Ben Zornes, Author at Ben Zornes

The Bracing Doctrine of God’s Sovereignty

by Ben Zornes · Apr 24, 2025

God’s sovereignty over all things is a bracing doctrine. We fancy ourselves capable of getting a tight grip on our lives. Our assumption is that if we plan enough, budget prudently, exercise regularly, and shrewdly assess risks we can mitigate unpleasant circumstances.

But your hands are too small to guide the events of history, or even your own story. Whatever grip you imagine you have on your life, in actuality it is more slippery than a toddler at bath-time. You were not meant to have your hand on the steering wheel of your life. Rather than coaxing you into consigning yourself to a lethargic resignation, this doctrine summons you to a determined trust in Him who does hold you, and your story, in His everlasting arms.

You may tell yourself that your worry is actually just planning ahead. You may lie to yourself that your stress levels are what anyone would expect of you given your circumstances. But what you must do, as a saint of the Living God, is walk in true trust that you may plan your steps but the Lord ordains them. You may cast the lot in your lap, but its outcome is from the Lord.

Far from causing fatalistic despair, this truth braces you for all the duties which God sets before you. If God is sovereign over all things, and He is, then your prayers for God to intervene actually mean something. If Christ is Lord, and He is, then your story is being told by a King who laid down His life for you. You can say with the hymn:

Since all that I meet Shall work for my good,
The bitter is sweet, The medicine, food;
Though painful at present, ’Twill cease before long,
And then, oh, how pleasant The conqueror’s song!

The Unrivaled Story of Easter

by Ben Zornes · Apr 23, 2025

Introduction

The number of rival stories to the Gospel are legion. You are confronted with a host of competing salvation stories. All of these rival stories are powerless to save. Their allure is found in their escapist fantasy. Escape from responsibility. Escape from consequences. Escape from accountability. Christ’s Resurrection is the true story of restoration, true salvation, and life.

The Text

And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.
Acts 20:6-12

Summary of the Text

As Paul is making his way back to Jerusalem, after his 3rd missionary journey (circa AD57), we’re told of this weeklong visit to the city of Troas, about 10 miles south of legendary Troy. At the end of this week of ministry (v6), the saints gather, on the first day of the week, for a worship service and farewell to Paul and his companions. This is the first record of a Christian service held on a Sunday. It was an evening service, for the express purpose of partaking the Lord’s Supper and to hear Paul’s preaching. Paul was feeling a bit loquacious, and the sermon went long (v7). The room was well-lit with lamps (v8). A young man name Eutychus (fortunate/lucky) perched himself in the window. As the sermon went on, he sunk into a deep sleep, and fell out of the third story window. As you can imagine, the congregation hurried to check on him, but he “was taken up dead” (v9).

Having had his sermon interrupted, Paul himself went down to the site of the tragedy. Paul falls on the lad, and encourages the saints to not be troubled for the boy’s psyche (soul/life) is in him (v10). Luke retells this healing in in order to leave us in a momentary suspense, we are left with a bit of uncertainty about Eutchysus’ condition. We are told that Paul goes back upstairs, the Lord’s Supper (or perhaps the potluck) is held, Paul picks up his sermon where he left off, continuing until daybreak at which point Paul and his companions depart for their next destination (v11). Only after the dawning of the new day does Luke confirm that Eutychus had really been raised from death to life, to the great comfort of the Troas church (v12).

An Unfortunate Story

At first blush, this might seem like a story that Luke includes to keep his retelling of Paul’s itinerary interesting. But there really is a lot more brewing here than just a story to keep the reader entertained. There are at least three striking reasons for the inclusion of this short resurrection story within the broader history of Acts.

1. The center of Christian life as the Lord’s Day, the Day of Resurrection.

2. Peter and now Paul represent the continuation of God’s life-giving presence amongst His people.

3. Ancient myths are subverted, transformed and applied to Christ & His people.

The first reason for the inclusion of this story is that Luke presents to us a picture of early Christian worship, with its center of gravity being on the Lord’s Day. Not only do we see that this service took place on the first day of the week (Sunday), but it took place the Sunday after Easter. In this regard, the raising of Eutychus can be seen as God adding an exclamation mark to this Sunday service. The church revolves around the worship of the God who died and rose again and in Whom we too die and rise again. When we gather together to break bread we are putting the resurrection as the hinge upon which our whole life turns. Worship is central. Thus, it is fitting for Christian worship to plant its flag on the Lord’s Day.

The second reason for this story is that earlier in Acts Peter had raised Tabitha (Acts 9); now Paul raises a man from the dead. Looking at both resurrections, the language is quite reminiscent of the stories of Elijah & Elisha raising people to life (1 Kings 17:17–24, 2 Kings 4:18–37). Putting these two apostolic resurrection miracles together we see in them a continuity between the OT Prophets and these NT Apostles, between the church in her immaturity under the Law, and the church coming into maturity through the Gospel. The resurrection power of God is central to all history. The Prophets foreshadowed it. Christ procured it. The Apostles continued it. From the fall until Christ’s resurrection, God promised a new creation to His people (Is. 42:9). Therefore, in this account we see that the work of the church, the very life-blood of the church, is this doctrine of the resurrection we receive through our union with Christ’s resurrection.

The third reason is the least evident, but is like a lovely song you hear once and then can’t seem to stop humming. Luke is subverting Homer. Luke is hi-jacking pagan myths. Luke is saying, we’ve got a better hero than Odysseus. In Homer’s Odyssey there is an episode of one of Odysseus’ companions, the youngest in fact, a young man named Elpenor. He is repeatedly described as being unlucky. After a feast, in the darkened halls of Circe, a deep sleep falls upon Elpenor. The company is setting sail the next morning. In the morning, Elpenor in his haste falls from the roof, breaks his neck, dies and his psyche (soul) departs to Hades. His companions take him up dead. The first soul in Hades that Odysseus meets is Elpenor, the hero can do nothing to save his young companion. The only thing that can be done is offer him a ritual burial, which takes place at dawn. Sorrow is the end of Elpenor’s story, whereas comfort is the end of Eutychus’. In other words, Luke saw this episode with Eutychus as an opportunity to present the Christian story as the true myth. Homer’s hero was powerless to raise his companion to life. Jesus, by His servant Paul, resurrects the young man named Lucky. The heroes of Ancient Troy are impotent, the servants of Christ bear in them the power of an endless life.

Life Restored

All anti-Gospels bake down to a very simple error: escapism. Godless mankind hates this world that God has made, they hate themselves for the sinful way they’ve mangled it, and above all, they hate that Christ has ushered in a new creation of this world. In the pagan myths, the hope was that by various virtues and heroic exploits you might be deemed worthy to escape this material realm and dwell in a realm of hedonistic bliss and without accountability. Darwinism tells you that you are as meaningless as pond scum zapped by lightning, and so you must escape your meaninglessness by assisting in the next stage of human evolution. Climate change alarmists insist that this world is on the verge of a calamitous ending, and in order to escape you must end your bloodline, and consign yourself to as small a pile of dust when you die.

But there are other stories we tell ourselves. Stories that say, “Once a miserable sinner, always a miserable sinner.” That sort of mantra is a clever way of justifying an apathy towards mortification of sin, and thus it too is a weird kind of escapist fantasy. There is also a sad sort of impotent pseudo-Christianity that treats Christ’s death as our ticket to an ethereal world. It sees this world as not our home, we are only passing through. But the true Gospel is that this world will itself be resurrected, because it is the inheritance of Jesus the Risen Christ.

Therefore, by faith in Christ your story is like fortunate Eutychus. All other stories invite you to a daydream of escapism. The unrivaled story of Easter restores you to life. You are restored to responsibility. You are sanctified unto service. You are delivered to dominion. In Christ, your story doesn’t end in an unfortunate fall. It ends with a feast with the saints of God, in celebration of our Lord who died and rose again for our eternal salvation.

CHARGE & BENEDICTION

Don’t tell yourself or others stories of escapism. The true story is one where all your sins are forgiven, not because you somehow found a loophole, but because Christ died for your sins in your stead. The true story tells you that you died, and your life is now hid with Christ in God. The story of Easter is that because Christ rose, you are truly alive.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
Jude 1:24-25

Our God Shall Come

by Ben Zornes · Apr 15, 2025

The 18th century American missionary, David Brainerd (1718-1747), labored amongst the Indians of New England. His life was very short with continual afflictions of illness and infirmity. Nevertheless, he was a man of fervent prayer, and diligence in ministry. As his body gave way at 29 years old, his dying words were a citation of Hebrews 10:37: “He shall come, and will not tarry.”

On this Sunday, in which we celebrate the regal entrance of Christ into Jerusalem to accomplish our salvation, we should have those same words as our motto. The steadfast confession of God’s people is this certain confidence that “He shall come, and will not tarry.” The OT saints were often brought to cry out for God to come for their deliverance, and He always did. In fact, we should argue that all their prayers for immediate deliverance, were in fact prayers for ultimate deliverance. That ultimate deliverance arrived in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, who entered the city of peace upon the foal of a donkey; His face set like flint to face death and damnation on your behalf.

In light of this ultimate deliverance, we do not discontinue our cries of “Maranatha, come, Lord Jesus, come.” Rather, we persist with them. Jesus shall come politically, and overthrow the schemes of evil tyrants. He shall come ecclesiastically, and thwart the schisms of men of strife. He shall come domestically, and turn the hearts of fathers & sons towards each other. He shall come to us in our death, and bring us to be with Him where He is. And in the final judgement, He shall come to rectify all injustices, all the persecutions of the Righteous, and all the sorrows within this yet to be resurrected earth. This is our certain hope: our God shall come, and shall not keep silent (Ps. 50:3).

Our Father and Our Baptism

by Ben Zornes · Apr 14, 2025

This world was made by the wise and loving will of our heavenly Father. We do not dwell in a world of impersonal laws. This world is not a lonesome speck of dust in a cold cosmos. In the words of that great hymn: this is our Father’s world. Fatherhood is inescapable.

That being the case, it shouldn’t surprise us that in dealing with the sin which our first human father brought upon us, God our Father set about, through His redemptive purpose, to adopt us as His own beloved children. In baptism, the new birth, the regeneration, the new fatherhood which Christ obtained for us through His blood is held forth to us.

This is why Jesus instructed us to baptize in the triune name: in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Put simply, your baptism is God’s promise to be Your everlasting Father.

So welcome our sister to Jesus Christ…

Perpetua & Baptismal Courage

by Ben Zornes · Apr 14, 2025

Perpetua was one of the earliest martyrdoms recorded. She stands near the front of a long line of faithful saints who held their confession of Christ even unto death. A common Roman practice, one that Perpetua likely faced, was to clothe victims with pagan robes so that the spectators could enjoy a live-action role play of cultic myths. It wasn’t uncommon for Christian martyrs to refuse these robes, opting for the shame of nakedness over the greater shame of indulging the idolatrous blood-lust of the crowds.

This sort of courage is only found in Christian baptism. This water clothes us with the robes of Christ’s unstained righteousness. In Christ alone is found the courage to face the madness of godless crowds. As we rejoice in this daughter’s baptism, be reminded that in our baptism Christ gives us true courage to face all manner of raging beasts which the devil might enrage to do us harm.

So come, and welcome, our sister to Jesus Christ…

Rejoicing in Another’s Sufferings

by Ben Zornes · Apr 9, 2025

This meal should be a comfort to you. Among the many reasons for this is that it speaks to you that God is not ignorant of or indifferent to your sufferings. Here we must grapple with the indisputable splendor that the Lord of glory descended down into the suffering of death. A death that He did not deserve.

His sufferings were undertaken to accomplish two things in relation to your sufferings. First, His suffering upon the cross ensures that one day, in the new heavens and new earth, there will be no more suffering. This truly surpasses anything you can think or imagination. All the pains you’ve suffered, all the sorrows you’ve ever carried, all the misery you’ve ever been called to endure, will one day be no more. Not only that but in that eternal glory you can be certain that there will be no temptation to fear or worry about future potential sufferings. A staggering reality that awaits us: tears shall be no more.

But the second, and more glorious, reason that Christ’s sufferings are a comfort to you in your sufferings is that it means that your sufferings mean something. Sin undoubtedly mangled the good creation of the Lord. But the cross certifies to us that Christ dealt with the consequences of sin by becoming Sin. He answered the question of why there is evil in the world by enduring the greatest evil. Because of the cross you can be certain that the sovereign God intends in the weight of your sufferings a far surpassing weight of glory.

Thus, what would be impolite elsewhere is faith’s true delight here. At this table we rejoice in Another’s sufferings. Another’s misery is our peace. You here remember with gladness the Man of sorrows. For His sufferings were undertaken for His and your eternal joy.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

Saints Fiddling with Crayons

by Ben Zornes · Apr 4, 2025

Godly parenting is diligent faith in practice. When it comes to the good works which God has prepared in advance for you to do, raising your children to fear the Lord is near the top of the list. Consider first that it’s an act of faith. God makes gloriously astonishing promises to your children, and you must trust Him for the fulfillment of these promises. Not only that, but as you look at your children, you need to see them, not as they are at present, but what God in His grace intends them to be. They are meant to be brightly arrayed saints who surround heaven’s throne with endless praise. As Lewis pointed out, if you were to meet a glorified saint you’d be tempted to worship them.

Look down your row. There are little saints who right now are fiddling with a crayon, asleep in a car-seat, and resisting the urge to poke their sister. But you must see what God intends them to be, and focus all your paternal energies to that end. Trust that sowing is rewarded with reaping.

That is the faith part. Now for the diligence part. It’s easy to dupe yourself into thinking the duty is done once you’ve crested one particular parenting hill––the toddler went to sleep without getting out of bed, or the teenager got out of bed without you needing to shake them. But diligence requires that you understand that by leading your child through one temptation or immaturity you are readying them for a greater one. Like the orphaned Narnian Shasta learned, successful obedience in one task sets you immediately on the path of a new duty.

In all this, you parents must dig deep, not despair, and roll up your sleeves in this good work of readying the little saints assigned to you for everlasting service in the heavenly Jerusalem.