Ben Zornes

Living and Dying to Show the Preciousness of Christ

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Christmas in the Light

Christmas in the Light

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The coming of Christ was like the dawning of the day. The Apostle John framed his coming this way, “The darkness is past, and the true light now shineth (1Jo 2:8).” This was nothing less than what the Prophet Isaiah had foretold in his wonderful words, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined (Isa. 9:2). Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. (Isa 60:1).”

Christmas is the celebration of God opening the curtains, and exposing to mankind how dark indeed was the darkness in which we were living. He sent His Son, to be the light, in order to show us how to be truly human. Since His advent, we now live in the day, not in the dark.

Your sin cannot hide from God, so don’t pretend it can. Your lies & evasions won’t cloud the Son of Righteousness that has arisen. The Church’s task is to teach the world to live in the Light of Christ’s glory. This is why we make a habit of confession of sins.

Christmas calls you to humble yourself, and confess your sins one to another. It summons you to curb your lusts by the power of the Spirit. You can no longer slink around in the dark alleys of spite, sloth, or slander. Christ’s coming means that every hidden drawer, closet, and cave are bathed in His Kingdom’s Light.

All the current convulsions of our culture are from its insane attempt to try to go back into the pre-Bethlehem darkness. But the powers and principalities are overthrown. Christ is King of this planet. We live in the Light, as He is in the Light, because He is the Light of the World.

Always remember, it is a mercy whenever your sin comes to light. You ought not think that keeping your sins hidden is for the best, or that it is even possible. We most certainly live in a time when rebellious men are attempting to bring the world back into shadow. But, whenever we avoid hard conversations, refusing to bring our sin into the Light, we have joined that foolish project of trying to live as if Christmas never happened. So as the Psalmist said, “O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles (Ps. 43:3).”

Refusing to confess your sin is like trying to live in the White Witch’s Christmas-less winter. But when you confess your sin to God, and to those you’ve sinned against, Christmas has indeed come.

Your Sins Are Forgiven

Your Sins Are Forgiven

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The Gospel we preach is that God through Christ forgives sins. Man is accustomed to dealing with his sin in one of two ways. Either he covers it up with his excuses & evasions convincing himself that his sin isn’t indeed sinful. Or else he slavishly labors to atone for his sin through works of righteousness. But the Gospel proclaims the only way to rightly deal with sin in God’s sight: forgiveness. This is offensive. Man’s pride wants to earn his way into God’s good graces. Man’s folly is thinking that God will wink at his lame attempts to redefine sin. But God looks directly at your sin and forgives you for Christ’s sake.

Have you come to Jesus? God forgives your sin. Have you sinned this week? God forgives your sin. Have you sinned badly this week? God forgives your sin. Will you sin next week? God’s forgiveness will cover even that. While we must not sin so that grace abounds, we must never forget the stunning goodness of this good news. If you’ve trusted in Christ, and been baptized into him by water & true faith, then all your sins are forgiven.

God promises to not remember your sins against you. God casts them into the sea. God reckons you as righteous. Every last bloody sin of the saint has been forgiven by the bloody Christ. This, of course, should compel us to walk in grateful holiness. We forsake our sins because we’re forgiven. We resist the temptations which beset us because we’ve been forgiven.  We labor, according to the Spirit at work in us, to subdue the inner corruption which still remains in us, because God has forgiven our sins. But don’t graduate beyond this simple Gospel truth which is declared here weekly: your sins are forgiven; the only right response is a joyful: “thanks be to God”.

The promise of God’s word is to forgive us our sins when we confess them to Him. This good news is not a way to circumvent God’s justice, but this is how His mercy satisfies His justice. Too often we stand unmoved by the glory of this great forgiveness which the Father gives to us through the redemptive work of His Son, our Lord Jesus. Both when we hide our sin or grovel for our sin we are forgetting this simple Gospel truth that the Lord is merciful and gracious to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness. May God grant that we would walk continually in the glory and joy of sins forgiven, and give us steadfastness to walk in grateful holiness.

The Gospel summons you to be reconciled to God, not on the basis of your merit, or deserving, or because you’ve been on best behavior, but because God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on your behalf that you might be the righteousness of God. That is the good news that we declare.

A Blessed Home

A Blessed Home

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In one of Solomon’s many proverbs, he gives us a plain piece of wisdom, “The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous (Pr. 3:33 NASB).” This proverb ought to raise before you the question: “Is your home blessed?”

If you would have your home rest under the blessing of the Lord, it must be a home of righteousness. Of course, our only righteousness is found in being justified freely by God’s grace. So then, a blessed home must be a Gospel home. A home where the Gospel is believed, cherished, taught, and lived.

But then, because of the potent grace of the Gospel, that imputed righteousness grows and bears the fruit of righteousness. One of the blessings which God pours out on the home of the righteous are the works of righteousness. The blessed home gets busy nurturing godly virtues, while going on the warpath against the deeds of darkness, the accusation of the Enemy, and vain thoughts which blow with every wind of doctrine.

Righteousness won’t share space, however, with wickedness. The righteousness of Jesus gets into everything. It influences what can be found in your browser history, your Netflix viewing habits, the tone of your voice when speaking to the kids, your financial expenditures, and your work ethic.

The home under the blessing of God is the home where Jesus is the foundation, the roof, the joists, the framing, the wiring. Jesus is not just central, but Jesus is the point. Jesus isn’t just an accessory to your modern American suburban life, He is your life, and praise, and glory, and prize. The righteousness of Jesus is an aroma which fills the home, this alone can bring the blessing of God upon it.

By God’s electing love, He has saved us from dwelling in the cursed house of wickedness, and brought us into the blessed house of righteousness. Nevertheless, we know that there remains closets and cub-boards of covetousness, and there are old-boxes of resentment and carnal desires up in the attic, and then there are the weeds of worldly thinking that pollute the garden. May the Lord grant us grace to see that the righteousness we receive through Christ, also compels us to go about uprooting and removing all the wicked deeds which would bring God’s curses upon our homes.

It’s a simple question, “Is your home blessed?” Hiding sin, tolerating sin, and encouraging sin is the quickest way to ensure that your home falls under the curses of a Holy God. But by bending your pride and confessing your sin, you can be assured that the blessing of God rests upon your home.

What Baptism Confesses

What Baptism Confesses

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The Christian life can be summed up by the word confession. The word for confession in the Greek literally means to say the same thing. The Christian is one who says the same thing that God says. Thus, our life should be summed up in confessing two things. We confess our sinfulness, and we confess our righteousness. These two confessions seem at odds, but baptism into Christ enables us to say both things truly.

Apart from Christ we are dirty and stained by sin, and thus we rest under the just wrath of God. But in your baptism, God says that you are clean and you are righteous. The Christian life is confessing these two things: I’m a sinner made righteous by my union with Jesus. You must learn to say what God says about you. As we learn to confess that, we can’t help but declare, “How great our debt, but greater far is the price He paid.”

No Prosthetic Hands

No Prosthetic Hands

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Jesus commands us that, “if thy hand offend thee, cut it off (Mk 9:43).” He repeats this for the foot and eye, with the point being: take the battle against sin seriously. Better to lose limbs than let sin conquer you. Better to live free and die, than to live in slavery to sin and die spiritually.

In this room are a wide-variety of sins. The sin which you might find such a struggle to overcome might not be the sin which the person to the left of you finds they are beset by, and the person on your right could be facing some other sin entirely. But each of you need to face your sins and temptations square in the face and resolve to do whatever it takes, by the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, to resist your sins.

Confessing your sin is a sort of cutting off of your hand. It is acknowledging the wickedness of your sin, and your admission that it is vile in God’s sight. It is you separating yourself from your sin. But the routine of confessing your sins (whether in your daily walk, or at a set point in the weekly liturgy) should not be taken as a permission slip to go out and get a new hand to facilitate your sin tomorrow. Jesus didn’t say that if your hand causes you to sin cut it off but it’s ok to go get a prosthetic replacement. He didn’t say to pluck out your eye and then replace it with a robotically enhanced one.

So, confess your sin. Cut off anything which facilitates that sin you need to confess this morning. Delete that app. Leave that group of friends. Cut up your credit card. Unsubscribe from that streaming service. Don’t go to that party. Don’t hit the snooze button. In other words, make no provision for the flesh…kill it, mortify it, and triumph over it in the death and resurrection of Christ which enables you to be victorious over your sin. 

Your Generosity Ain’t Autonomous

Your Generosity Ain’t Autonomous

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A common cliché during the Christmas season is that “It isn’t about gettin’, it’s about givin’.” It’s a favorite line in Hallmark Movies and church, Christmas cantatas. And to be fair, it bears resemblance to the biblical truth that it’s more blessed to give than receive (Acts 20:35).

However, if we aren’t careful, this sentiment will begin to make about as much sense as that old country song, “I’m My Own Grandpa.” What have you ever given that you did not first receive? When have you ever been autonomously generous? Who can give unto God, as if He needed anything (Acts 17:25)? Everything you’ve ever given was borrowed.

You give a gift. But God gave you the job to make the money to buy the gift, as well as the mind which picked out the perfect present, as well as the two hands which wrapped it up, as well as every heartbeat you had in the process.

Never think that your generosity can stand on its own two feet. Otherwise it turns you into a smarmy, self-righteous character, right out of the aforementioned Hallmark movie. You are a creature, made to imitate your creator…not rival Him. We’re like a toddler who––with his father joyfully watching––uses the remote control as a phone, perfectly mimicking the way the father talks on phone. 

Our giving is always a receiving from God. We give praise unto God; but He graciously gave us new hearts which desire to praise Him in the first place. Our gift-giving is a creaturely imitation of God Almighty. God made this world, gave us existence, and filled this world with things He wants us to give to each other. We give gifts because our Father made all the molecules in this universe.  

Obedience is Better Than Efficiency

Obedience is Better Than Efficiency

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In our user-friendly age, we want things to be efficient. If there’s a challenge, we want the easiest way around it. So, a worldly-minded cynic might come to this portion of our service and think that confessing your sins is about as effective in the fight against sin as wearing high-heels for a 100m race. 

If the goal is to make our fight against sin easier, confessing your sins seems a bit futile. Ten minutes after you’ve risen from your knees, the cynic may inquire whether you’re facing temptation again. Sure enough, our experience seems to prove the cynic right. Not long from now, an upcoming appointment may spark the familiar squeeze of paralyzing fear; an internet ad may invite the whispers of lust-fueled desires; a glimpse of your rival may trigger an episode of bitter jealousy. 

However, the goal of confession isn’t to get rid of our temptations or to make facing them easier. In fact, confessing your sin as sin means that the next temptation will be stronger, not weaker. The tempter will need to be more subtle, not more obvious.As a wise, older Christian once taught me, “The easiest way to get rid of temptation is to give in to it.” We don’t confess our sins out of a utilitarian wish that this will make things run smoother, but we do so to be obedient. 

Confess your sin, knowing temptation will confront you before this service is even over. Confess it as the black and vile evil that it is. Confess it to be the very sins for which God sent His Son into the world to save you from. Confess it not to make the fight against sin easier, but because confessing your sin is how you fight against and conquer sin through Christ.

Ben Zornes