Ben Zornes

Living and Dying to Show the Preciousness of Christ

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Covenant Renewal

What Are We Doing?

What Are We Doing?

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One of the more vital needs of the church is for us to do what we do on purpose. In other words, while there’s a right sort of habitual piety, there’s also a very real threat of putting our worship on spiritless autopilot. We should ask ourselves, “What are we doing here?” And we should have an answer that’s derived from what God, in His Word, told us to do in our gathering.

This is a service of prayer (Acts 2:42) in which God renews His covenant with His people (Heb. 12:22-24). Let me break that into two parts. The reason we assemble is to offer our prayers up to the Lord. True prayer humbles itself before the Living God. As such, it brings praise for Who He is & petitions Him alone for deliverance from evil. Our songs are sung prayers; largely derived from the Psalms or from themes clearly tied to the text of Scripture. We bring God our praise by praying back to Him how He taught us to pray.

But this leads to how we know our prayers are heard. We pray in Jesus’ name. This isn’t a sweet tagline to our prayers. It is a covenantal acknowledgement. And so, God cuts us up through his Word as it is sung, read, preached, and displayed (by Baptism & the Supper). In Christ, we are united unto His perfect sacrifice, and in this way and this alone we offer ourselves up to God.

God doesn’t desire false worship. He wants righteous worship. The only way which sinners like us can bring right worship (in our prayers & praise) is if we bring it in covenant. Every other attempt is really idolatry, self-worship, and sin. You’ve come to Mt. Zion, not to do God a favor, but because of His favor towards you.

God’s Word cautions us that our tongues are an unruly member of our body. With it we curse our fellow man and then imagine we can turn and praise the Lord with the same vile tongue. Indeed, we have sinned against our God in our thoughts, words, and doings. We have not only not offered Him the right praise He deserves, but we have offered ourselves to the false gods of envy, lust, pride, and vanity. It falls to us to turn to the Lord for forgiveness for thinking we can have it both ways.

How God Builds – The Eternal House of David

How God Builds – The Eternal House of David

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Introduction

Because you’re confronted with it each Sunday, it might be easy to think that our musical style is high up on the list of important Christ Church distinctives. In actuality, it’s further down the list in importance. Not unimportant, but not of first importance. On the other hand, You could hang around for a good while without knowing the first thing about our eschatology, which actually looms large over much of what we do around here. This text is an instance of both distinctives being woven together, providing an opportunity to highlight why we worship the way we do, and what the heck that has to do with the end of the world.

The Text

Zechariah 12:7-13:3

The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.

Summary of the Text

Zechariah, along with the other later prophets, encourage the returning exiles in the work of rebuilding Jerusalem. Though enemies threatened the work, those dwelling in tents wouldn’t be more vulnerable than those in the more secure habitations (12:7). Jehovah would defend His people; the feeblest would be like David in the height of his greatness, and the house of David would be as God, an angelic warrior of the Lord (12:8). With such a warrior within her, no enemy shall overcome this New Jerusalem (12:9). 

Upon the house of David, God’s spirit of grace & supplication would be poured out; they would look upon a pierced Warrior-God, whom they pierced, and greatly mourn Him (12:10, Cf. Jn. 19:37). They’d mourn as Judah had once mourned for the death of good king Josiah (12:11, Cf. 2 Kg. 23:29, 2 Chr. 35:22-25). Every family & household––royal & priestly, great & small, husband & wife––would mourn (12:12-14). Calvin’s remarks on these verses are worth sharing, simply for the humor of it, “Zechariah seems to have used more words than necessary to complete his subject.”

In that day, a cleansing fountain would rain down on the house of David, cleansing sin & all uncleanness (13:1). This fountain will wash away both idolatry & false prophecy (13:2-3).

The House of David

It isn’t a stretch to say that David is the central character of the Old Testament. His reign is the crescendo of the OT narrative, and after his reign, Israel falls into a sad decline. The centuries after David are filled with nostalgic yearning for that Golden Era. The prophets foresee that Davidic glory returning. Later Psalmists are both students & conservators of David’s musical brilliance.

Zechariah is no exception to invoking Davidic imagery. He uses the term “house of David” because of how laden it is with historic significance, liturgical bearing, and Messianic meaning. He seems to compress all of Israel’s hopes into a singular household, and then from there into a singular person. 

The historic significance which is used here is to remind the exiles of David as Israel’s champion. The House of David was the undisputed Royal household, so it would be quite natural for the regathering Jews to look there for God’s deliverance. This is just nostalgia, it is godly remembrance of past faithfulness.

But Zechariah also draws out one of David’s other significant contributions. David brought musical worship into a prominent part of the religious life of Israel. His preparations to build the temple were motivated by an insight that is expressed throughout many of the Psalms: behind God’s command for burnt offerings, was a greater desire for contrite sacrifices of praise (Cf. Ps. 51:16-17, 69:30-31). One of David’s most important episodes was the building of the tabernacle of David on Mount Zion, in order to bring the Ark of Covenant to a permanent resting place. This tabernacle wasn’t identical to the one which the Levites offered animal sacrifice in (that was in Shiloh, and later in Gibeah). This tabernacle of David, in the stronghold of David, in the city of David was full, not of the smoke of burnt offerings, but with the sound of Psalms. Zechariah prophesies that the Spirit of true prayer would return to the lips of David’s household.

Finally, we cannot miss the Messianic hope latent in this reference to David’s house. God’s promise to David was that he would not fail to have an heir sit on the throne (Cf. 1 Ki. 2:4). Zechariah picks up on this promise and foretells that David’s house would arise like the avenging Angel of the Lord; a real  boon of hope to the feeble regathering exiles then dwelling in Jerusalem. The Messianic promise was that David’s Son would conquer all enemies, wash all the people, cleanse them from their idolatry & false prophets. This Messianic Angel would be pierced in the battle, but still He would wash the entire house of David & Jerusalem clean. All of this while Zechariah & Haggai stirred up the people to rebuild the temple.

A Service of Song

Zechariah expresses the Messianic promise as a renewal of a spirit of grace and supplication. This Spirit would rest in a particular way upon the house of David.

Matthew Henry makes a wonderful comment on this passage: “When God intends great mercy for his people the first thing he does is to set them a praying.” It’s no small matter that a large portion of our worship service is comprised of spoken & sung prayers. An enterprising 5th grader might tally up 19 prayers in our service.

This is a service of prayer. We bring our supplications to the Lord, and it is fitting that we do so with glorious music. The casual air of our age has led many to misinterpret what it means to come before the throne of grace with boldness. We slap indie-band chord progressions on the lyrics of a High School cheerleader’s diary, and think it a worthy offering to Royal David’s heir. We come boldly, not impudently. While musical style should not be a matter of dogmatism, neither should it be a mindless adoption of consumerist appetite.

Singing is a peculiar feature of the Christian faith. We owe that heritage to David. When God sets out to grant revival and reform, it is always accompanied by His Spirit. That Spirit energizes us, to come by the blood of David’s heir, to bring our pleas to the Father. It does no good just to have songs. We must have the Spirit. And if we have the Spirit, we will also recover the singing of Psalms with joyful reverence (Ps. 105:2, Eph. 5:19, Jam 5:13).

Weekly Renewal of an Eternal Covenant

Weekly worship in the Lord’s house shouldn’t be viewed as merely an activity to entertain religious people. Rather, this is a weekly ratification of a vow which God made to David. But that vow is older than even David. It was a covenant more ancient that Moses. It predated Abram. God’s covenant mercies existed long before the bow was hung in the sky for Noah to behold. For the covenant of grace was in the heart of God even before He promised a skull-crushing heel to the Serpent.

Christ gathers up all these iterations of the covenant of grace in himself, and by Him we order our service to follow that pattern of covenant renewal. He calls us by His Word. He convicts us of our sin, commanding us to confess our sin. He consecrates us as His own, by His Word preached. He communes with us in a feast of bread & wine. He commissions us to walk in our covenant duties by covenant grace. Our worship is the dawning of New Covenant glory (Jer. 31, Ez. 36:25-27)

Following a Davidson to Conquest

The worship of the saints isn’t a peripheral aspect of Christian faith. Our weekly worship is how we are to prepare for and hasten the end of the world. The Son of David has bought the world. The kingdom is His. Look on Him who was pierced. Sing His praise, loudly, triumphantly, exuberantly. With head and heart. Render a faithful service of reverent adoration to this Son of David.

Are there idols in your own heart? The Goliath-slayer won’t tolerate mixing praise for idols with His praise. Are you besieged by great enemies? The Lord pours out His Spirit of grace and supplication. So call upon God to deliver. The mighty, Angelic Messiah, the Christ, the Lord’s anointed Messenger shall conquer all His enemies. He conquers by filling the house of David with David’s songs. Bending before the rightful King, singing His praise, is how we overcome.

A Davidson has taken up the world’s government by taking His rightful place upon the Israel’s throne. We worship & serve Him, and this praise shall crescendo until all His many enemies fall. Our worship each Sunday foretells the end of the World: Jesus shall reign.

Worship Like You’re Told

Worship Like You’re Told

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Introduction 

People, being at root self-idolaters, think they can worship God on their terms, rather than worshipping Him as He has instructed us to. The difference between right worship and wrong worship is the difference between smoked brisket and burnt hair. If you don’t believe me just ask Cain, or Nadab and Abihu, or Ananias and Saphira.

The Text

1 Chronicles 16:29

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

Worship Faux Pas

Worship in modern evangelical parlance has come to mean, almost exclusively, music. To be more exact, the sort of music that consists of three chords and the truth, give or take a chord, and give or take the truth. While we ought not to disparage the musicality which has come to pervade much of Protestant worship, we shouldn’t think of worship as confined to the musical aspects of our service. I just used the word service and it would be good for us if we began to think of worship and service as synonyms (Rom. 12:1). In other words, our worship service contains music, but music is too small a thing to contain our worship.

King David, in our text, is consecrating the restoration of the Ark of Covenant to the Tabernacle. He does so by way of “burnt sacrifices and peace offerings (1 Chr. 16:1).” But of great import is the offering of another type: a psalm (16:7). In this song of thanks, we are summoned to give glory to the Lord, bring an offering, and come before Him. We are not only told what to do (i.e. bring glory), but how to do it: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. We must worship not in common garments tailored to current fashion, but in garments of holy beauty.

The way we worship shapes what we believe. Ugly worship results in ugly faith. Thoughtless worship will produce a thoughtless faith. As an example, a deep bond of love and loyalty is formed in a family as they share meals together, go on walks together, laughing and talking. They might not realize how those routine elements of their family liturgy are shaping and fortifying their view of family. If a family becomes a bubble or two out of level, oftentimes a deliberate return to those basic “rituals” help to dispel some of the relational funk.

An important adjective for our weekly Lord’s Day worship should be familiar. In one way, we shouldn’t notice our liturgy. When you first learn the guitar every placement of every finger is a painful labor. But once you are well-practiced, those fundamentals fade. Not because they’re unimportant, but their purpose is to provide the framework for glorious strums, progressions, and scales. If we don’t deliberately look at what we’re doing, and why we’re doing it, we can grow flabby in our execution of what we’ve been told to bring: glory.

Call

And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Leviticus 1:1

The book of Leviticus begins with God calling unto Moses with instructions as to how the Israelites were to bring their worship to Him. In fact, the Hebrew name for this book is  (ויקרא) which means “And He [the LORD] called.” Worship begins and ends with God and at His initiation. We aren’t Aborigines with rain sticks hoping to make a loud enough clamor to get the gods’ attention. God calls, we answer. God initiates, we respond. 

In the OT, God is continually coming to and calling to those whom He has set apart for His redemptive purpose. When He initiates His covenant there is a distinct pattern. But Man doesn’t summon God, rather it is He who calls to us, and invites us into His covenant life. He invites us to a meal.

Confession

For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Psalm 51:16-17

Before you can enjoy communion with Him, something must be done about the black tar of sin that is caked on you three inches thick. Though David invites us to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, outside of Christ, the most beautiful thing we can offer is the rasping of dead bones, ornately decked out in soiled grave-cloths. God summons us, and the first thing we realize is that we’re wretched, blind, and filthy. Unless our sins are covered, we cannot come. So we confess not only the vile truth about ourselves, but also the new creation which God has begun in Christ.

Consecration

Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

John 15:3 

But in being cleansed by the blood we are set apart for service. When the priests were consecrated, they were adorned in such a way as to tell the world that they were busy with sacred work (Cf. 1 Pt. 1:15). Their uniform declared their occupation. So we are consecrated to go about the work which God has called us to which is to hear the Word of Christ, in hearing we are renewed by that Word, to keep that Word (Deu. 6:17). Now our prayers and offerings of praise ascend to Him and are accepted by Him, because they are offered in the person of His Son (Heb. 13:15-16).

Communion

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.

Psalm 63:5 

God calls us, cleanses us, and consecrates us in order to commune with us. The Peace Offering followed the Sin Offering and Ascension Offering (Cf. Lev. 9). This sacrifice was a shared meal: the LORD has his portion (Lev. 3:9-11), the priest/mediator received a portion (Lev. 7:31-32), and finally the worshipper partook of this offering (Lev. 7:15).

It’s no small wonder that Christ took the Passover seder (the pinnacle of the entire sacrificial system), and renovated it into a simple meal of bread and wine. Jesus didn’t disconnect it from what came before. The final sacrifice would be Himself. Thus the Peace Offering He offered on our behalf, ensured that we might partake with the Father and the Great High Priest of that covenant meal. What Christ offered was the blood of the new testament (Mk. 14:22-24).

Commission

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Mark 16:15

We’re commissioned because we have been equipped and filled for the task for which we’ve been set apart. Arrangement is always made for the successful completion of the covenant. In the instance of the New Covenant, we are assured that Christ will give us His very Spirit to guide and comfort us. He will be with us. Our practice of weekly Covenant Renewal service isn’t because we’re worried the Covenant will fail week to week.

Glory Upon Glory

The long and short is this: order and ardor are not at loggerheads. We worship with joy unspeakable and full of glory, but we do so with reverent fear. Your worship and service will only be accepted if it is offered in Jesus.

If we think we’re confined by an orderly liturgy, we are likely in danger of indulging ourselves in worshipping the way we want to, rather than the way in which God has commanded us to worship Him. The OT order didn’t become irrelevant because of the fulfilling work of Christ, any less than an acorn becomes irrelevant because it turns into an oak.

Hebrews 10:19-25 makes this abundantly clear for New Testament believers: “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

Do Not Forget

Do Not Forget

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In the Psalmist’s account of Israel’s exodus we’re told that, they believed [God’s] words; and they sang his praise. But the Psalmist goes on to underscore that: “They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel (Psa 106:12-13).”

Scripture repeatedly commands us to forget not: “Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God (Deu. 8:11).” “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits (Psa. 103:2).” “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments (Pro. 3:1).” “But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased (Heb. 13:16 NKJV).” 

Right now you are breathing the crisp, clear air of Mount Zion; but as you descend from the height of worshipping in the shadow of the Most High, the air thickens. Our brains are muddled by the cares of life, the temptations of sin, the slog of routine. As one hymnodist put it, “prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.” 

This is why we’re reminded over and over again to remember––to not forget––the covenantal union which joins us to Christ, and Christ to us. Our weekly service culminates in the Lord’s Supper precisely for this reason. It’s a renewal and a reminder of the covenant which we are in. Christ commanded us to eat this meal in remembrance of Him, and Covenant Renewal ensures that in the ebb & flow of our week, there’s a liturgical reminder of Whose we are, and what we’re called to. We belong to Christ. We are called “accepted in the beloved (Eph. 1:6).” We are a holy people, called to sing the praise of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pt. 2:9).

So come in faith, and welcome to Jesus…

Ben Zornes