Summer Bible Challenge #4

Becky Pliego on June 23, 2018

¡Hola, hola! Welcome to week 4 of our Bible Reading Challenge, friends. In His kindness, God has continued giving us hunger and thirst for His Word and in His goodness, He has not let us go unsatisfied. He feeds us, and like a good Father, He wants us to be well nourished and strengthened! So as we have been coming to Him, He continues to give us more of Himself on the pages we read. How wonderful is this?

This week we will finish reading the gospel of Matthew. Picking up on chapter 13 we will start reading the parables Jesus told. Don’t miss the purpose Jesus tells us He had when He spoke in parables, and don’t be surprised to see that it was not to make things more understandable, but actually to hide meanings from men “whose heart had grown dull.” This is huge because it is an important reminder to us that when we read the Bible we are not reading just another book. No, the Bible is God’s Book and unless the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see and ears to hear, we won’t understand. This is very encouraging, because our understanding of the text doesn’t depend on our IQ level, it depends solely on God’s grace to enlighten our eyes so that we may understand and believe.

We will read about the two times Jesus fed crowds of thousands. Let me share with you that every time I read those I think of this BRC and how it started. It was born from a small idea, yes, but you know what was the “behind of scenes” of this whole thing? The Father saw you and had compassion on you. He knew many were starving and He wanted to feed each one of you. So what came next? Orders from our Lord. Put this plan together, spread the word, invite women to join the banquet, encourage them to come and sit and join the feast. No one will go away hungry. Not one. And so here we are, all of us, enjoying this banquet and filling our baskets with bread to give to our children, our neighbors, our friends, so that they can taste and see how good our God is and then come and sit themselves and eat with us at the table. This is how the Kingdom of God will continue to grow, more coming, more eating, more being satisfied with Christ alone. Ah! Taste and see how good the Lord is to us!

Get ready to turn pages and be amazed at the stories we will be reading this week. Use your imagination, see the scenes Matthew is describing for us, read and think on what a gift it is that we can actually read about the life of Jesus Christ. Sisters, we are actually reading the words He spoke when He was walking among us. We are reading the life of the Messiah, we don’t have to imagine a Jesus, we can know Him because He has given us the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit to teach us all things. What a privilege, right?

We will read of the death of our Redeemer on the cross, but we will also read of His resurrection. Don’t read it lightly. This are the events in history that have the power to change your own story. The application? Repent and believe. Believe that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is sufficient to cleanse you from all sins. Only in Christ there is true hope, only in Christ can we find true freedom.

On Friday we will read the epistle of Paul to the Colossians. Chapter 1 is wonderful to read after a gospel. Try to read and remember what we read in John 1 and in the first epistle of John. So many connections that will bless your soul!

Those of us doing the extra readings will be reading Philippians twice and Titus. I will just limit my comments to this, please pay attention to Phil. ch. 2:16 and its immediate context. Notice how there is no other way for us to “live as lights in the world” in the “midst of a crooked and twisted generation” except by “holding fast to the word of life.” Running in vain starts the moment one starts neglecting holding fast to the word of life, and who wants to run in vain? To live a vain life? Take the Book and read it and hold fast to each word written in it.

J.C. Ryle rightly wrote, “Let us read our Bibles reverently and diligently, with an honest determination to believe and practice all we find in them. It is no light matter how we use this book. Eternal life or death depends on the spirit in which it is used.

Above all let us humbly pray for the teaching of the Holy Spirit. He alone can apply truth to our hearts, and make us profit by what we read.”

So why don’t we take his advice and pray with the Psalmist, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” Ps. 119:18 ESV

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and the Christ Church Ladies Fellowship

No Golden Calves: The Second Commandment

Ben Zornes on June 19, 2018

Communion Meditation

Christ Church Downtown

Ty Knight

“And God spoke all these words, saying: ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments'” (Exodus 20:1-6).

The first commandment forbids you from worshipping any false gods. The second commandment forbids worshipping the true God with idols, and also any false gods with idols.

We are given a helpful story in Exodus 32 of what NOT to do with Aaron and the Golden Calf. Moses has been up on Mount Sinai from chapter 20 until chapter 31 receiving the law from the LORD God. But Israel is growing restless and starts clamoring to Aaron for gods to lead them because “who knows what happened to this Moses guy?” And so Aaron gathers all the gold earrings and castes an image of a baby cow. Aaron proclaims, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” and he declares the next day as a feast to the LORD, to Yahweh (Ex. 32:4-6). Aaron attributes the power of deliverance to this freshly minted calf made from the gold which, until recently, had been nestled among ears and noses of the worshippers.

You got to ask, “How much stupider can you get, people of Israel? You’ve just witnessed the Lord lay the smack-down on all the gods of Egypt. Yahweh has delivered millions of people all at once from 400 years of slavery. You are daily provided with miracle water, miracle bread, miracle meat. And you want gods to deliver you and to go before you?” In the presence of all that God is and all that God has done, what kind of people would give their worship to a golden calf? The answer is…us kind of people.

It’s easy to see this Old Testament stupidity of God’s people and scoff at their dumb calf. But we are often just like them with our own golden calves. Some of you drove here in your golden calf, or slept last night inside your golden calf. Some of you work 40, 50, 60 hours on your golden calf. Some of you ate your non-GMO, organic golden calf. Some of you are sitting next to your golden calf, or wishing you were. Some of you are raising golden calves. We are extraordinary craftsmen of our golden calves.

But have you not heard? The LORD your God is a jealous God.

Kirkers Read 03 – The King Has Come

Ben Zornes on June 18, 2018

As we wrap up Revelation, notice that the concluding chapters focus in on a triumphant church. Throughout the cycles of judgement in the middle chapters we are being led to see that the bride of Christ will emerge triumphant through all these trials. She triumphs, because her King has triumphed. He is the rider on the white steed, a sword coming from his mouth, with the name King of kings and Lord of lords emblazoned upon him.

The book ends with a marriage, and it is fitting that John concludes the book with covenantal blessings and curses for those who would add or detract from this book. It is this covenantal language that should help us understand that what Revelation presents is a reiteration of what we read in the Mosaic Law, in places like Leviticus 26. Those who break the covenant of grace will find the seething wrath of God pursuing them, and ultimately God will execute vengeance upon those who trample upon this covenant. However, He provides precious promises of perseverance and peace for those who remain faithful. Of course, it is only by being born anew, in Christ, whereby the church is presented radiant and glorious. Don’t miss the covenantal nature of Revelation.

As we transition, then, to Matthew’s Gospel keep a keen eye on how Matthew spends the first 11 chapters revealing Christ as Israel’s promised King, and then in the second half showing how Israel rejects her King. The lineage at the beginning, Christ’s temptations in the wilderness, His Sermon on the Mount, set us up to see that He is True Israel, and the promised Messiah. However, His parables which confused unbelieving hearts, rebukes of the Pharisees’ hypocrisy, and ultimately His trial by night show Israel rejecting their King. One thing to try as you read is to take notice of all the Old Testament allusions and quotes. Try to pick at least one out every day and go read that passage in it’s OT context. It is quite an illuminating practice.

Join the Christ Church Summer Bible Reading Challenge!

Summer Bible Challenge #3

Becky Pliego on June 15, 2018

¡Hola, hola! What a joy it has been to take up the Book of God and read it these past few weeks with you all. In the middle of our daily summer routines we have been working on doing the will of God, that is, to know Him. Have you thought about that? Since the beginning, the Father has always made Himself known to His people, He wants His people to know Him, to love Him, to obey Him. And when we come to the Word of God, we come to the exact place which God has appointed to teach us all that we need to know about Him, about ourselves, our neighbors, and this world. How are we not going to take the Book and read it? Where else can we go to find life? Our daily Bible reading is more than a discipline we cultivate, it is our life line.

I want to share today a wonderful quote from Thomas Watson on the subject of the Scriptures:

“Be thankful to God for the Scriptures. What a mercy is it that God has not only acquainted us with what His will is, but that He has made it known by writing! The Scripture is our pole-star to direct us to heaven, it shows us every step we are to take; when we go wrong–it instructs us; when we go right–it comforts us.

Adore God’s distinguishing grace, if you have felt the power and authority of the Word upon your conscience; if you can say as David, “Your word has quickened me.” Christian, bless God that He has not only given you His Word to be a rule of holiness–but His grace to be a principle of holiness. Bless God that He has not only written His Word, but sealed it upon your heart, and made it effectual. Can you say it is of divine inspiration, because you have felt it to be of lively operation? Oh free grace! that God should send out His Word, and heal you; that He should heal you–and not others! That the same Scripture which to them is a dead letter–should be to you a savor of life!” ^[1]

So, Friends, by grace through faith, this coming week, we will take the Book of God and read it because we want to know God, to love Him and worship Him more!

This week we will finish reading Revelation and will start the gospel of Matthew. In the gospel of Matthew, we see how the apostle tells us over and over again how Jesus is the Son of David, the Promised One who would come and sit on the throne of David forever. He comes teaching with authority, and comes to advance His Kingdom.

Matthew wants his readers – including you and I – to see how Jesus is the Messiah. To do so he points us to many Old Testament passages and tells us how Jesus came to fulfill what the prophets had written about Him. This is actually pretty amazing because we can see also how the OT and the NT are not independent, but dependent on each other. Each of the 66 books of the Bible are the inspired Word of God and given to us to know God and His way of salvation.

In this gospel we will also see how the same themes that ran through the gospel of John and his letters, run here. God is light and we ought to walk in light. And walking in the light is not something that happens in the darkness so that no one notices. When we walk in the light others should be able to see our good works, the fruit of our abiding in Christ. So we have the Beatitudes, and we learn how we ought to walk as children of light.

If you are doing the extended reading plan you will be reading the epistle Paul wrote to the Ephesians twice in a week. Ephesians is a wonderful book to see how our walking in the light looks like. Notice that the first three chapters tells us what Christ has already done of us. And then the next three chapters tell us how we, now that we have received all the benefits of God’s work on our behalf, should walk. It would be impossible for us to obey the last three chapters if we had not first received, by grace through faith, a great salvation. Our obedience always flow from His saving work in us. And that, my Friends, is super good news!

May our prayer this week be, “Father, we trust in Christ’s work for us. Thank you because He said, “It is done!” Thank you because we who are thirsty can come and drink from the fountain of life and and without paying anything ourselves have our thirst quenched. We want more of you, Lord, so we will come to your Word to drink more and be satisfied. In Jesus name, Amen” (Prayer based on Rev. 21:6)

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and the Christ Church Ladies Fellowship

Grace & Peace: Revelation 100

Douglas Wilson on June 12, 2018

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

“And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 17:12–18).

We turn from the seven heads as seven kings to the question of the ten horns. These ten horns are obviously subordinate to the heads, but they are in some manner kings. They have real authority, but it is a lesser authority than that of the seven kings. As it happens, the empire of Rome did have ten imperial provinces, and it is possible that this is what is intended. It could also be that the number ten is symbolic here, simply representing the complete number of subordinate governors and kings. Scripture itself uses the term king with some latitude—for example, Herod would be an example of this kind of lesser ruler. His technical position was that of a tetrarch (which is the term Luke prefers, e.g. Luke 3:1), but he is also called a king elsewhere (Matt. 2:1).

The basic set up is this. The waters here are many peoples, nations, tribes, etc. The beast arises from these waters, and the great harlot sits upon the beast. The harlot thus sits upon the many waters, ruling over them by means of her dalliance with the beast. The ten horns first make war on the Lamb, doing so by persecuting His followers. But the whole thing culminates when Rome turns on the woman who rides upon its back, thus destroying her. That said, we can dig into some specifics.

These ten rulers make war on the Lamb and on His followers ineffectually. They do not succeed because the Lord is King of kings and Lord of lords. They inhabit the realm of lower case kings and lords, and thus they are making war on their omnipotent sovereign. It is very specific—“the Lamb shall overcome them.” These kings will lose. And those who are with the Lamb are also identified by their calling and character—they are “called, chosen, and faithful.” They too are necessarily victorious.

Unable to defeat the Lamb or His people, the kings settle for an entity they can defeat—the harlot. They hate her, and when given the opportunity, they wipe her out. They leave Jerusalem desolate, and naked. They devour her, the ways beasts would eat a carcass, and then burn her with fire. This passage may intend for us to think of Jezebel, eaten at the last by dogs. This is the kind of terrible end that Ezekiel predicted for Israel, and it is now coming to pass.

“Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness. And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy. And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare. They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords. And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more” (Eze. 16:37–41).

These kings are manifestly wicked, and we also see a plain statement of God’s absolute control of all such iniquitous rulers. They cannot prevail over the Lord’s people, and they will only prevail over their other enemies to the extent that God has determined for them to do so. The text here is as plain as an exegetical pikestaff. “For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will . . .” Like the ancient Assyrians, they were simply an axe in the hand of a sovereign God (Is. 10:15). They boasted in their prowess, but they had nothing to do but fulfill the will of God, and then be condemned for their wickedness in doing so. It was the same as with Herod, Pilate, and Judas, who fell under condemnation for the way that they fulfilled the will of God perfectly (Acts 4:26-28).

The woman was that “great city,” who rules over the kings of the earth—until she is destroyed by the kings of the earth. The power of Israel was not a political power. The beast was the political power, and the woman rode on the beast. Her authority, whether corrupt or righteous, was indirect.

There were Jews all over the Roman Empire, and they would all congregate in Jerusalem at the times of festival. “And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5). The Jews were God’s chosen people, which did not necessarily mean that they were His favorite people. When they trusted and obeyed God, the whole earth was blessed. “And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart” (1 Kings 10:24; cf. Ezra 1:4-7). When they were disobedient, when they fell into unfaithfulness, the Gentile world was stumbled into blasphemy.

“Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written” (Rom. 2:17–24).

The Jews were appointed to show the world what blessing for covenantal faithfulness looked like. This meant also, necessarily, that they were appointed to show the world what fierce anger and indignation looks like when poured out on a virgin bride who became a wanton harlot. This image of harlotry, taken from the Old Testament, overwhelmingly refers to covenantal apostasy.

So the harlot Jerusalem rode on the back of Rome, but her position was entirely precarious.