Christ Church

State of the Church 2023

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INTRODUCTION

As you all know, it is our custom sometime around the first of the year to give a “state of the church” message. Sometimes it relates more to the condition and challenges of the national church, and other times the emphasis is more local. This year, for reasons that should become obvious, the observations and exhortations will be more local.

THE TEXTS

“But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel” (Exodus 11:7).

“When a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Proverbs 16:7).

“And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly” (Acts 5:12–13, NKJV).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXTS

I have selected three texts that all have a common theme. When the children of Israel departed from Egypt, they did so with the rank-and-file Egyptians respecting them highly. “And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians” (Exodus 12:36). Pharaoh was hostile to them, but others around him could see the bigger picture (Ex. 10:7).

Too many modern Christians believe that the Lord’s requirement to love our enemies somehow means that we are not supposed to have enemies. But a simple glance at Scripture (not to mention church history) should show this to be false. Nevertheless, the fact that we must have enemies does not mean that we must be perpetually belligerent. Just the opposite, if we believe ourselves to be under the Lord’s favor, then we should seek for that favor to grow and increase. One tell that this is happening is that the Lord grants a measure of stability, and even our enemies get tired of the hostility. And then last, right after Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead by the Lord for lying about their generosity (Acts 5:1-11), we are told that the attitude toward the Christians held by the general population was something that ran along the lines of whoa.

SUMMARY OF OUR SITUATION

For a number of complicated reasons, Moscow, Idaho has made a series of splashes. Something is going on here, and seemingly unrelated events are conspiring to turn it all into one big something. I am talking about Meet the Press, other international news organizations showing interest, the reach and influence of Canon+, the international news created by the horrific and sensational murders, the national controversy over Christian nationalism, and the fact that our disintegrating national culture has decided that the conflicts in our small town are a microcosmic representative of the larger chaos. That is where we are. Like it or not, that is where we are.

HOW SHALL WE THEN LIVE?

When we come to the realization that a bunch of people are staring, a natural question is “what are we supposed to be doing?” While I have a few specific suggestions for you, the main things we should be doing in this unique circumstance are all the things we should be doing in all the mundane circumstances. That is, worship the Lord—every Lord’s Day, come before His presence with singing (Ps. 100:2). Love your family and hang together with them (Josh. 24:15). Work hard at your vocation and seek to bless the city (Jer. 29:7). Use all the content that has been generated here over the decades as a force multiplier—do what it takes to get up to speed (1 Chron. 12:32).

And then just a few unique things . . .

  • The Moscow Police Department: It should be possible for you to pray for two distinct things at the same time. The first is that you be praying earnestly for their success in capturing the one responsible for the recent murders. This is the job that God has assigned to them. At the same time, you should also remember that they are currently being sued (rightly) by one of our deacons for an unlawful arrest, and in another suit (rightly) by one of our elders for a host of tangled and incompetent corruptions. You can pray that the extra scrutiny that has resulted from the murder cases might be used by God to bring about some much-needed reforms. Remember the spirit of this proverb: “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him” (Prov. 24:17–18).
  • Don’t get conceited or giddy: The fact that God can work through insignificant people does not make them important or significant in their own name or in their own right. “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” (1 Cor. 4:7). If God is just giving us Warhol’s fifteen minutes of fame, we shouldn’t be acting like we are a new Geneva. If we were to be privileged to be part of something like that, it won’t happen through us plumping it up. “For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear: For a servant when he reigneth; And a fool when he is filled with meat; For an odious woman when she is married; And an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.” (Proverbs 30:21–23). In short, focus on your assigned duties, and don’t act like an idiot with a full tank of gas.

CHRIST BUILDS HIS KINGDOM

As we are engaged with all these different issues, with moving pieces everywhere, it is easy to find yourself chasing squirrels, all of which are faster than you. Let me return to the earlier point that we should keep the main thing as the main thing.

And worshiping is always the main thing, and it is something that cannot be approached or done apart from the mediatorial work of Jesus Christ. We gather here on the Lord’s Day in the name of Jesus Christ. And that is the name that has authority over every other name.

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

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State of the Church 2023 (CCD)

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INTRODUCTION

It is our custom to have this first sermon of the new year be a “State of the Church” address. To riff off of the Apostle Paul’s word to Timothy, “This is a good idea and worthy of all acceptation.”

THE TEXT

A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.  It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by thesadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house ofmirth. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is thelaughter of the fool: this also is vanity. Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this (Ecclesiastes 7:1-10).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The Preacher gives us a diamond-mine of wisdom here. The main thrust of this passage is that we must live out our days with eternity in view. A good name isn’t established overnight, which is why you should live so that your eulogy will be full of faithfulness not just polite clichés (v1). This is why going to a funeral is better than going to the carnival; for wise men will be instructed to keep their own mortality in view (vv2-4). Godly sorrow is good for the heart (v3). Stern rebukes from the wise will do more for you than a Disney Musical, or a trending TikTok dance (v5).

Solomon offers a striking metaphor for the cackling laughter of fools, it is like burning up weeds; gone in a flash with no lasting warmth (v6). But in the heat of the moment, the wise might be tempted to forsake wisdom and “go mad” by playing by the rules of the fools; which is seen particularly in the practice of “bribery” (v7).

Thus, we are cautioned to keep the end in mind, not just the beginning, and this demands patience and long-suffering humility (v8). If follies prevail around us, we must not give way to a shrill anger or resentment, otherwise you’re setting out on a fool’s errand (v9). Pining nostalgia is not the course of the wise (v10). Instead, we must see that “God draws straight with crooked lines” (v13), and we must live like dying men (v14). Or as Sproul used to say, “Right now counts forever.”

BEGINNING WELL

In many respects we are a group marked by new beginnings. There are many new marriages, with (by the sound of things) a lot of new babies. Many of you are students just beginning your studies and preparing to establish careers and homes in the near future. This service is a new work of our church. And more broadly, our church community has a lot of new folks. There are new businesses and ventures all around us. New friendships. And new temptations in all these arenas.

The instruction from Solomon is that we should begin well by considering what it means to end well. You raise your children not to hold onto them well into adulthood, but to shoot them out like arrows to cut down the ranks of darkness. The parent who tries to grasp at their adult children will likely find the adult children less and less fond of coming around. The image of an aged miser comes to mind, counting his coins as a death-fit of coughing takes hold of him. He departs but all his accumulated wealth remains for his embittered inheritors to squabble over.

Too often, time turns people bitter and miserly, resentful over an accumulated horde of slights. The warning of Solomon here is to refrain from being hasty to anger. A parent can grow quick to blow up at a child when they aren’t obeying the command to clean up the legos, even after being told seventeen times. A new husband or wife can grow prickly because their spouse forgot to take out the garbage, or neglected some duty.

A church can grow full of spitefulness. He was asked to pray more times than me. She got thanked by the pastor for baking the treats, and I didn’t. Others got invited over to dinner, but we didn’t.

NOT A NOSTALGIA PROJECT

The other aspect is that God’s people, who are to walk in the Wisdom of the Word, can fall into the trap of laboring to recover some nostalgic version of their culture. But our task is not a backward looking project of simply being more “based” than our degenerate culture. Our task is that of Gospel dominion across nations, tribes, and tongues. Our task is bigger than recovering an American Golden Age. It is bringing America out its fever dream, and up into greater glories than the 1950s could have ever envisioned.

We live in a culture which is tangled up with all manner of godless doctrines. If we would establish a lasting work, we must begin by renewing our minds according to Scripture. Carl Trueman helpfully paints a picture of the maddened thinking we are confronting in our culture:

“Nietzsche’s thinking is reflected in current social attitudes: living for the present. When teleology is dead and self-creation is the name ofthe game, then the present moment and the pleasure it can contain become the keys to eternal life.”

“By Marx’s account, the family and the church exist to cultivate, reinforce, and perpetuate bourgeois values. In today’s world, this thinking helps explain why everything–from the Boy Scouts to Hollywood movies to cake baking–has become politicized. And one does not need to be an ideological Marxist to be pulled into this tussle, for once one side gives a particular issue or Organization political significance, then all sides, left, right, and center, have to do the same.”

A DOSE CHESTERTON

GK Chesterton can help us out on this point in particular. He points out that “progressivism” (even in his day) was really just a project in futility. This is because there was no fixed point which society was progressing towards. To quote the man himself: “Here comes in the whole collapse and huge blunder of our age. We have mixed up two different things, two opposite things. Progress should mean that we are always changing the world to suit the vision. Progress does mean (just now) that we are always changing the vision.”

The commission of the Church is this, in Chesterton’s words: “We see a certain thing out of shape, and we mean to put it into shape. And we know what shape.” That shape is that the things of Old, the truths of eternity, the mystery hid for ages and generations has been made manifest.

Our end goal is to tell the world the Old, Old Story about how all things will be made New in Christ. The duty of the Church is that Christ is King, and we must summon the World to get with the program. Not with the simmering anger of partisan fools, but, as the hymn puts it, “with deeds of love and mercy.”

NOW FOR US

We have had a wonderful beginning here at CCD. God has blessed us with a great facility. There is a zeal for good works in this group ofsaints. The saints here could be given high marks for hospitality and joyful fellowship.

These sort of virtues are the mortar which should bind together the living stones built on the Chief Cornerstone. But remember, our goal is to establish a work that will outlast any of us here, and remain faithful for generations by God’s grace.

To do that, we must heed Solomon’s wisdom. Do not let small gripes become big ones. Do not grow discouraged at the folly all around us in our culture. Don’t get flustered or shrill or  exasperated if the progress towards Christ’s total dominion on earth seems slow in coming. Do not measure success from a quick start, but from deep roots. It takes time for the leaven to cause the dough to rise.

This all must be done by being rooted and grounded in Christ. All of Christ for All of Life. That is the shape we are bending things to. It starts in you. Is Christ all to you? What about your home? How about here in the congregation of saints? The end of the matter is better than it’s beginning. And the end of it all will be Christ all in all.

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The Duty of Ordered Love & the Sins of Identity Politics (State of the Church 2023)

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INTRODUCTION

As the Christian foundations of our society continue to crumble, animosity is the inevitable result, because in this New World that Christ rules, there is no other integration point, no other peace, no other fellowship. It is literally Christ or nothing. But this doesn’t stop rebellious men in their pride from forging false integration points, politically, culturally, or racially, but since they are all idolatrous rivals to Christ, they will only succeed in deforming men, inciting malice and envy (Ps. 115:8). Our presbytery recently adopted the following statements in order to address our current situation, proposing them to the full CREC to be adopted as memorials:

ON ETHNIC BALANCE

We believe the human tendency to congregate around shared affections is natural and can be good—it creates the blessing of cultures and subcultures, for example. But as with all natural goods in a fallen world, there is a temptation to exalt it to a position of unbiblical importance, thus making it an idol. While an ethnic heritage is something to be grateful for, and which may be preserved in any way consistent with the law of God, it is important to reject every form of identity politics, including kinism—whether malicious, vainglorious, or ideologically separatist/segregationist.

ON ANTI-SEMITISM

We believe the conversion of the Jews is key to the success of Christ’s Great Commission, and it is incumbent upon us to pray and labor toward that end. While, apart from Christ, the Jews are as all others––alienated from God—they have remained an object of God’s care because the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. God’s plan for converting them is for them to see Gentile nations under the blessings of Christ’s lordship, thus leading them to long for the same. Hence, the cancerous sin of anti-Semitism has no place in God’s plan.

THE TEXT

“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mk. 12:29-31).

RIGHTLY ORDERED LOVES

Biblical love is treating others lawfully from the heart. And Augustine’s definition of virtue as “rightly ordered love” is inherent in being created, finite creatures. We cannot love everything and everyone infinitely; we must choose and calibrate our loves. Sin is disordered love: loving evil or else loving something good too much or too little. Our loves are ranked in the greatest commands: we must love God first, above all else, heart, mind, soul, and strength, and then we must love our neighbors as ourselves (Mk. 12:30-31, cf. Lev. 19:17-18, 33-34). Jesus is teaching this same ordering of loves when He insists that loyalty to Him and His people must rank over our own families and will sometimes even appear as a hatred of them or even your own life (Lk. 14:26, Mt. 12:48-50, Lk. 12:53).

But Jesus also affirmed the fifth commandment over certain church fundraising programs (Mk. 7:10-12), promised to abundantly restore families and lands to those loyal to Him (Mk. 10:29-30), and honored His own mother greatly (Jn. 19:26-27). Jesus was closer to some disciples than others: the 70 were closer than many, the 12 were closer still, but Peter, James, and John were His closest friends, while John was His best friend. A certain sentimentalism resents this as “not fair” or even “hateful,” but this is the way God made the world. This applies to friends (Prov. 27:6, 17), marriage (Mk. 10:9), and children (Is. 49:15, Mt. 23:37). Bitter and envious sentimentalism resents this and will eventually defend every form of treachery.

LEARNING TO LOVE RIGHTLY

Christ is the only true integration point of all things (Col. 1:20). But this reconciliation is not an obliteration of differences, loyalties, or loves. The fact that that there is neither male nor female in Christ Jesus does not abolish a husband’s duty to his wife; nor does his godly favoritism mean that he hates all other women. In fact, the Bible insists that we learn love from the lesser to the greater, from the closer to the further away, from the more concrete to the more abstract. The right kind of love of self teaches us to love our neighbors, beginning with those closest to us (Eph. 5:28), and ultimately teaches us to consider others better than ourselves (Phil. 2:3). David says that he learned to trust in God from his mother’s breast (Ps. 22:10). This covenant loyalty charges families to provide for their own before others, and so learn godliness and generosity there first (1 Tim. 5:4, 8), which, when done rightly, prepares justice, mercy, and hospitality for strangers and emergencies (cf. Lk. 10:25, Lev. 19:33-34). But it is not true love to give what you don’t have (2 Cor. 8:12), and where ordered covenant loves are despised, all talk of “love” is empty, aimless, selfish, and destructive. Just as you cannot really love God (whom you have not seen) if you do not love your neighbor (whom you have seen), neither can you love your neighbor whom you barely know if you do not love the neighbor who lives with you (1 Jn. 4:20).

PROVOKED TO JEALOUSY

The Bible teaches that envy is the satanic lust at the heart of much animosity (Js. 4:1-5), and vain glory and pride often feed and provoke this bitter envy (Js. 3:14-16, Gal. 5:26). But the more faithful God’s people are, the more provoked to envy their enemies will be (e.g. Gen. 26:14). However, there is also a godliness that provokes love and good works (Heb. 10:24, 2 Cor. 9:2). The Bible says that this is what God is doing with the Jews in particular, saving the Gentile nations first “to provoke them to jealousy” and “emulation” (Rom. 11:11, 14) “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Rom. 11:25). As it relates to the gospel, the Jews are no different than any other nation, but as it relates to covenant history, the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable (Rom. 11:29). Paul says, “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh… As concerning the gospel, they areenemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes” (Rom. 9:3, 11:28). Paul’s example teaches us to hate what God hates (all vain glory, malice, lies, theft, unbelief, etc.) and to order our covenant loves faithfully (family, church, nation, etc.).

CONCLUSION

The vision in Revelation is of a great multitude that no one can number from every nation, tribe, people, language, standing before the throne worshipping the Lamb (Rev. 7:9-10) and the kings of the nations bringing the glory and honor of the nations into the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:24-26). This vision is of a glory that is both one and many, with unity and diversity.

No scheme of man can ever conjure this, and so we reject all identity politics: socialism, social engineering, racial vain glory, and all ethnic animosity. The gospel restores families and nations without putting them in a humanistic blender or coercing a false unity through superficial diversity (guilt manipulation, quotas, etc.). True virtue is a rightly ordered love, beginning with your own people, gathered around shared loves, with worship of the Lamb at the center.

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State of the Church 2022

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INTRODUCTION

We live in troubled times, certainly, and a regular response that rank-and-file Christians have to this difficulty is found in the lament, “But what can we do?” This year, our annual state of the church message is going to set before you a very local response to a very global and international panic, not to mention the totalitarian “solutions” that are being presented to us. And as it happens, the Scriptures we will bring to bear are Scriptures that are equally pertinent to our local and national situations both.

This is quite striking, because if we zoom out, we see that things have not been so bad in quite some time. But if we zoom in, looking at our community of believers, things have never been so good. What should we do with this?

THE TEXT

“Use hospitality one to another without grudging” (1 Peter 4:9).

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2).

“Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:14–15)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXTS

The three texts might be described as social exhortations. They have to do with our life together, with our social interactions, and they warn about the kind of sin that disrupts such fellowship. Peter tells us to be hospitable to one another, and he tells us to do this without grumbling or complaining (1 Pet. 4:9). The reason for warning us about this is that hospitality gives rise to occasions where you want to grumble or complain. They didn’t invite you back, or they didn’t wipe their feet, or they didn’t say thank you. Hebrews 13 tells us to show hospitality because we never know who it is we are being kind to (Heb. 13:2). The most inauspicious guest might be an angel—and when it isn’t an angel, it turns out to have been Christ (Matt. 25:40). And then in Philippians, we are warned against grumbles and disputes (temptations which, again, occur often in a community where hospitality is practiced).

But the reason I selected these three particular exhortations has to do with the larger context. Peter says that we are to be hospitable without grumbling, but what was that larger context? He was preparing his readers for persecution. Their faith was to be tried by fire (1 Pet. 1:7). Christ suffered so that we might follow His example (1 Pet. 2:21). They were going to encounter false accusations (1 Pet. 3:16). All this is the run-up to “be hospitable, and no whining.” In Hebrews, we are told to take strangers in—but again, what is the context? These people had undergone great afflictions (Heb. 10:32), had been reviled (Heb. 10:33), and had had their property confiscated (Heb. 10:34). These are the people who are to take strangers in. In Philippians, it is the same. Be blameless, harmless. No murmuring or disputing. But what had Paul said just a moment before? “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29).

THE EARLY CHURCH IN ACTS

On the day of Pentecost, three thousand souls were added to the church (Acts 2:41). Later, as the gospel gained strength, there were about five thousand more (Acts 4:4). This process continued, and it started to cause problems. “And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration” (Acts 6:1).

The apostles responded in two ways. The first is that they refused to abandon prayer and the ministry of the Word—as that was the driving engine (Acts 6:4). But second, they made a judicious set of ordinations, setting aside godly deacons to address the problem (Acts 6:3).

All of this was good preparation for what was to come (Acts 8:1).

COMMUNITY, HOSPITALITY, FRIENDS

Because of the cultural disarray in many other places, and because God has been so kind to us here, hundreds of people have moved here. Perhaps you have noticed. All the indications are that hundreds more are on the way. What does this mean? First, it means that there will be multiple opportunities to be hospitable without grumbling. Second, it means that it is quite possible that the trouble we see elsewhere is headed our way. We have no guarantees that it won’t happen, and we do have the assurance of these passages that being kind to strangers is a very good way to prepare. What can I do?

Most of you here don’t know most of you here. In a room filled with strangers, what can I do? We have to understand that God does great collective things by means of doing countless tiny things. No one raindrop feels responsible for the ocean, but each one is. This is how God works.

Koinonia fellowship is a great grace of the Holy Spirit, and we certainly have that blessing here. But do not confuse it with other things. It is not the same thing as friendship, for example. Jesus loved His disciples, and He loved them and protected them all (John 17:12). But He also had Peter, James, and John as friends (Matt. 17:1). And among those three, John was His best friend (John 13:23).

CHRIST IS HERE

At the conclusion of this service, Christ invites you to sit down at His table. This is a glorious kindness. One of the things that it teaches us to do is this—when it comes time for us to set our tables, we should be hungry for opportunities to invite Christ to sit down at our tables. But He travels incognito, remember? You may not recognize Him until He takes the loaf from you, says grace, and breaks the bread (Luke 24:30-31). You might not recognize Him even then. You might not realize any of this until the last day.

When you come to His house, His identity is known and declared. When He comes to yours, He often comes in the disguise of a nuisance.

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State of the Church 2021

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INTRODUCTION

In these annual “state of the church” messages, we sometimes address our local circumstances here in Christ Church. At other times the message has addressed our national condition. This year, it is (I believe) necessary to do both as the situations are unusually intertwined.

We are living in a time of great uncertainty and turmoil, and in such times, men turn naturally to their gods. In the case of many Americans, jack-secularists, they have resorted to long-neglected temples, only to find that their gods have toppled over like Dagon. They are therefore governed by fear and anger, both right and left. We are not in their position, and so whatever we do, we must not copy or imitate them.

THE TEXT

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3–5).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Although we have been born again, although we are new creatures in Christ, and although we are citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, we still nevertheless have physical bodies that we walk around in. We remain embodied beings. But though we walk around in the flesh, we do not conduct our warfare that way. We wage war, but we do not wage war according to the flesh (v. 3). Paul says that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but what he contrasts this with is revelatory. His first comparison is not carnal over against spiritual, but rather carnal over against mighty (v. 4). Carnal weapons are not strong enough to do what is going to be done, which is to cast down imaginations and every lofty, proud thing, and bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (v. 5). In order for them to topple statues of generals from a century or two ago, all they need are some cables and a winch. In order to topple principalities and powers, you need something more.

So what Paul has in mind here is not the kind of echo chamber rhetoric that you see on partisan political web sites. “Watch so-and-so drop a bomb on old what’s-his-face. Click here to watch Sen. Taxit own the libs!” He is not talking about casting down devilish imaginations in his head. He is talking about bringing the intellectual world to heel, bringing them to an actual obedience to the Lord Jesus.

PREPARING FOR ONE KIND OF CONFLICT

In the year 2020, Americans bought a record-high 17 million guns. This was on top of all the guns already owned, which is somewhere between 350 and 400 million. For every one hundred Americans, there are about 120 guns. And if you go out there in order to buy some 9mm ammo, good luck. The shelves for 9mm ammo look like the shelves for milk in a socialist country.

Now I only bring this up to note two things. The first is to point to the level of uncertainty in the general population. They should be ripe for hearing a sure word—a word of traction in slippery times. We should make a point of speaking that word.

The second reason is to use it for an illustration—simply to point out that unfortunately the sons of this world are more shrewd than the children of light (Luke 16:8). The worldlings look at their resources, and they make a point to stock up. They at least know they are supposed to do something. But many Christians don’t look at their resources, don’t anticipate the costs of spiritual warfare, and they don’t stock up.

A CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW AMMO BOX

If you are concerned about the state of our nation, you ought to be. If that concern has affected you to the point of wanting to prepare yourself in order to protect your family spiritually, then you are thinking wisely. So what can you do? What kind of spiritual 9MM ammo can you stockpile? What should you concentrate on? We don’t know what is going to happen, but I do know that if you start laying up these things, you will be better prepared for whatever comes, regardless of what comes.

  • Worship—“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve [worship] God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Heb. 12:28). This is the central thing.
  • Honesty about sin—“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Prov. 28:13). If you are not right with God, you will have real troubles in any real troubles.
  • Marriage—“Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun” (Eccl. 9:9). In other words, love your wife with holy abandon.
  • Music—“But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel” (Ps. 22:3). And the psalms are the arsenal and hymnal of God.
  • Hospitality/community—“Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality” (Rom. 12:12–13). Notice how the fact of tribulation does not negate the need for hospitality.
  • Christian Education—“And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). This is a critical component of what we are up to.
  • Debt-free—“The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” (Prov. 22:7; cf. Rom. 13:8). Your central encumbrance should be the encumbrance of love.
  • Joviality, cheerfulness, laughter—“Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:10). Our weapons are not carnal, but being joyful, are mighty.
  • Family dinners/sabbath—“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deut. 6:7). Church is where your instruction is packed. The family table is where it is unpacked.
  • Study/read—“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). First, read the Word. Second, read a book.
  • Work—“Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is” (1 Cor. 3:13). In context, this is talking about the work of ministry, but it is a principle that all the people are to imitate.
  • Stories—“Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.” (Joel 1:3). Joel is talking about a cautionary tale, but there are great, inspirational tales as well. All the stories.

And you know there is more than this. But there is certainly not less. And the first item—worship of the Father, in the name of Christ, in the power of the Spirit—is the box that will hold all these bullets together.

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