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Grace & Peace: Lord’s Prayer 1

Douglas Wilson on

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

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen (Matt. 6:9-13).

Before considering the Lords Prayer phrase by phrase, we should begin by taking it in as a whole. In English, it takes less than twenty seconds to say, and it seems strange that the Lord said that we were to pray after this manner. Haven’t we all read the impressive stories of prayer warrior missionaries who wrestled in prayer for hours until they were finally able to punch the principalities and powers on the nose?

And yet, when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, the way John the Baptist taught his disciples, He gave them an even shorter version of this particular prayer (Luke 11:2-4). Jesus explicitly teaches us that prayer ought not to be a big production we shouldn’t make a show of praying in church or on street corners (Matt. 6:5). Men like praying for men under the guise of praying to God. Jesus says to hide the fact that we pray (Matt. 6:6). On top of that, He says that we ought not to think that God is in any way interested in the word count and to the extent that He is interested in it, He wants us to make a point of going short (Matt. 6:7)

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few (Eccl. 5:2).

Of course we would be veering to the opposite extreme if we said that it was a sin for prayer to go long. Before the Lord selected His disciples, He prayed all night (Luke 6:12), and in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed long enough to lose the disciples who were with Him (Matt. 26:41). But even with that granted, it seems that Christians who know their prayer life to be inadequate should begin by simply praying the Lords Prayer, as brief as it is.

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Kirkers Read: The Covenant Thread

Ben Zornes on

As we prepare to read Deuteronomy, the last book of the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy), it is vital to hold on to the thread of covenant. Think of rock climbers who tether themselves together in order that their corporate ascent is safeguarded against dangerous falls. It is vital that we don’t minimize this theme of God’s covenant. The whole book of Deuteronomy is presented in the same treaty form which suzerain kings of the ancient near east would use; the main difference being that where ancient kings would form a treaty between themselves and their vassals/people calling the gods to be witness to the covenant and bring down judgement on those who would break the covenant, this covenant was between the people of Israel and God Himself. God was to be their king.

The reality is that from the fall in Eden onwards God dealt with man via gracious covenants. Noah, Abram, Jacob, Moses, and later David and Solomon all have this covenant between God and His people renewed. So what is this covenant? The Westminster Confession describes it as “the covenant of grace; wherein [God] freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ (WC Chapter 7.3).”

In essence, God always and only saves man through His Son the Christ. Further, man’s salvation is and always has been––even under these Old Testament iterations of the covenant of grace––a gracious gift and entirely unmerited. The covenant is recapitulated throughout Genesis, then further expanded in the giving of the Law on Sinai, and then we are brought to Deuteronomy where the covenant is renewed as Israel is about to enter the land which God had promised them. In Deuteronomy we have Moses preaching through the Ten Commandments, and reminding Israel that their salvation, deliverance and union with God is based entirely upon God’s free grace. Their obligation is––as the old Gospel song put it––to trust and obey.

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Kirkers Read: The Smoking Crater of Unbelief

Ben Zornes on

The book of Numbers opens and closes with a census. The Lord had brought them to the cusp of entering the land He had promised to the Patriarchs, and before they entered the land Moses recounts the ordering of the host of Israel. However, what follows is a series of rebellions, culminating in the great apostasy in Numbers 13-14. Ten of the twelve spies who had been sent to spy out the land, came back and reported that though the land was as God had promised, the difficulty in taking it would be too great. It states that they slandered the land which the Lord was giving to them (Num. 14:36).
    The consequence of their unbelief is forty years of wandering, until the entire generation whose faith failed had fallen in the wilderness. At the end of Numbers we have the “re-ordering” of the tribes, as they prepare, once more, to enter the Promised Land. Despite Israel’s unfaithfulness, we see that God does not fail to preserve his people and be faithful to His promise. He accompanies them, through all their wanderings as a fiery cloud above them. Paul sees this as a baptism into Christ.
    In fact, Paul cites Israel’s murmurings in his lengthy argument against the Corinthian church’s division and disunity. Israel was a partaker of Christ (1 Cor. 10:1-4), however, their numerous rebellions are a warning. Paul reminds them that all the judgements that happened to Israel for their various sins were for the Corinthians admonition (1 Cor. 10:11). “Do not be like unbelieving Israel,” is Paul’s main rhetorical point. Do not murmur. Do not be idolators. Do not fornicate. Cling––in unity––to the Gospel which Paul had preached unto them.
    Paul mentions that the murmuring of Israel brought the consequence of being “destroyed of the destroyer.” The Lord threatened to destroy the entire congregation as one man. Moses interceded, and while God spared the people (Num. 14:12-19), destruction met their murmuring nonetheless. Most obviously, the ten spies fell down dead of the plague (Num. 14:37). However, it is also of note that the next day Israel attempted to enter Canaan anyway. This faithless venture was met with destruction (Num. 14:45) at the hand of the Amalekites whom they had so feared. Murmuring always ends in a smoking heap of destruction.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation 117

Douglas Wilson on

“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Revelation 22:18-21).

Because the book of Revelation is the last book in the Bible, and because many have come to think of it as one single book, instead of being a library of 66 books, not a few have taken this final malediction to be referring to anyone who messes around with the contents of Scripture. No doubt that is *also* a bad thing to do, but the curse that is stated here is a curse that applies to the contents of the book of Revelation itself. The reference is to this book, and a particular feature of the Apocalypse all the plagues of the book are specifically mentioned and applied.

Now what is true of the parts also happens to be true of the whole. If someone ought not tamper with the book of Revelation, it would not be good to tamper with the books that came before. This is a scriptural way of thinking.

Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you (Deut. 4:2).

What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it (Deut. 12:32).

Add thou not unto his words, Lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar (Prov. 30:6).

The malediction is for those who adjust the content of the Scriptures to suit themselves. It should not be applied to those who disagree with us about the precise meaning of the seventh bowl of wrath.

If a person supplements this revelation with his own thoughts, then God will supplement him with all the plagues mentioned. If someone takes away from this revelation on the basis of his own wisdom, then God will take away his portion of the Book of Life, and his portion in the holy city, and from the things (e.g. blessings) that are mentioned in this book. This does not mean that someone can be removed from Gods roster of the elect. But it does mean removal from the covenanted and visible church, and all the blessings that pertain to it.

The one who testifies to these things that is, the Lord Jesus says that He is coming quickly. John responds with a heartfelt invitation even so, come, Lord Jesus. And the book concludes with a simple but glorious benediction. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

And amen.

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Kirkers Read: Seeing Christ in Leviticus

Ben Zornes on

Henry Law once wrote this about the book of Leviticus, “The main lesson of this Book is Christ. He is the light and luster of each part. To read aright, is to walk up and down with Him. Have we thus found? Is He more deeply engrafted in our hearts? Is He more closely enshrined within our thoughts? Has He become the mainspring of our being? Have we no longer any mind but His? Christ is the juice—the life—the heart-blood of Leviticus. If it instruct not thus, the veil is on the reader’s mind. He gropes in darkness amid glorious rays.”

We must not think that the Levitical laws were sort of a failed venture on God’s part. It’s not as if He came up with a temporary fix that didn’t quite end up working out. Rather, God, being sovereign over history orchestrated these sacrifices, festivals, and ordinances in order to reveal our need for Christ. A vital doctrine is distilled from Moses’ Law: the three uses of the Law. First, the Law is a restraint on evil; in this way the Law functions as God’s border patrol for mankind. Secondly, the bright holiness of the Law functions to reflect back to mankind his deadness & depravity; it is like a mirror which shows us the truth about ourselves. Third, it reveals Christ, the only righteous man who not only died in our place, but also imputes His righteousness to us, by faith. The whole point of Leviticus is to get Israel to see that their only hope was if God delivered them through the Messiah. That is our only hope as well.

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