Ben Zornes

Living and Dying to Show the Preciousness of Christ

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The Two Types of Sin

The Two Types of Sin

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The way of the transgressor is hard. This is what Solomon, in his heaven-born wisdom, taught us. It is hard because it is trying to live in God’s world without walking in accordance with God’s word. Like the student learning algebra, but being unable to do their multiplication table, the higher concepts will elude them until they take to heart simple things, like 2+2=4. 

Scripture teaches two basic categories of transgression. Things you shouldn’t do but did, and things you should do but didn’t. It isn’t hard to see how these two sorts of sins easily build up like grime on the gears, making the mechanics of the whole machine suspect. 

You know you shouldn’t lie, but you found yourself bending the truth, just a wee bit, in order to avoid some uncomfortable truth. Transgressing God’s command to not lie, leads you to actively policing that transgression with more lies in order for the first lie to not be found out. This tends to take up a lot more bandwidth than if you had just been honest upfront. Such sin leads you into more and more sins. 

On the flip side, when you neglect to do the duties which God requires of you, you also must concoct an elaborate rationale as to why you are exempt from that duty. You perhaps point to others who are neglecting their duty in a different sphere, in order that you can feel better about your negligence.

But sins of commission and omission are both alike in this way: sin always brings companion sins. It’s like rapidly growing mold, sending forth poisonous spores. Do not deceive yourself that your active disobedience or your neglected obedience can be isolated. Repentance is the inverse of all this. In both turning away from transgressions and pursuing your God-ordained duties, you find more and more strength for both resisting the allure of sin and for doing the good works which your heavenly Father has prepared for you to do.

The Architecture of the Christian Life

The Architecture of the Christian Life

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Baptism sketches out for us what the entire architecture of the Christian life should be: faith accompanied by ready obedience. Baptism isn’t a word which man speaks, but is a visible word which God speaks. In this sign He promises to unite us to all the grace found in the person and work of Christ. God extends this sign in grace, and the one baptized receives it in passive faith.

But since faith without works is dead, baptism summons the one baptized to put off the old man, mortify the flesh, and strive by the power of the Spirit to imitate Christ. Corporately, we see then that baptism is the Church acting in faith (trusting in all of God’s covenant promises) and an act of obedience (doing according to all our King has commanded). Believe and be baptized really is the shape of the Christian life. Or as the hymn writer put it: trust and obey.

So welcome our brother to Jesus Christ…

Loving Calculus

Loving Calculus

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We often say around here that parents need to not only teach their children to know the standard of God’s word, they also must be taught how to love the standard. That is an essential bit of pastoral wisdom.

I want to give some practical pointers on how to actually do this. If I were to tell a group of advanced mathematics teachers that they need to not only teach their students the finer parts of calculus but they need to teach their students to love calculus they very reasonably might inquire, “How do we do that?!” 

The fact of the matter is that if you delight in something, it isn’t hard to confer that delight. If you delight in something you love pointing out all the subtle joys to be found in that thing. Chefs delight in the various seasonings and how they can be mingled gloriously. A baseball enthusiast will tell you all about the glories of Nolan Ryan’s fastball. Again, true delight must be present in order to spread that delight to others. So then, you must be exuberant in your delight in God’s Word, in God’s people, and above all in God Himself.

This ought to show up in how you sing both here at church and in your home; how you run your family Bible studies; how you address sin and disobedience and reconciliation. Is God’s Word the joy and rejoicing of your heart? 

Personal delight is one thing, but then should come consistency. Your joy in the things of the Lord will draw your children into that delight. But only if you are consistent in your joy. A river without banks is a damaging flood. So let your joy in God flow in the channels of obedient leadership of your children. This will bring them to love the standard, which is Christ.

Preparing Kids to Worship

Preparing Kids to Worship

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Your duty as parents is to teach your children to delight in the things of the Lord. The goal is not just well-behaved children who have no delight in the Lord; but children who are obedient & self-controlled because they delight in the Lord.

A large part of this duty is done by training your children how to worship the Lord here each Sunday. It’s a glory to have a congregation full of little ones. They truly are a blessing, even when they might be a little more vocal or squirmy than they should be. Parents, and dads especially, should vigilantly work to teach your children how good & pleasant it is to worship the living God. Don’t get ruffled & flustered if Jr. needs ten trips to the discipline room to get his attitude squared away. After all, our Heavenly Father has been exceedingly patient to teach us the same lessons repeatedly.

The best way to prepare your children to worship rightly here at church is by showering them with attentive love at home. This means consistent discipline. Focused attention. Speech that’s both gentle & stern, without a note of irritation & annoyance. Turn your hearts to your children, so that they might turn their hearts to the Father.

Now, a word to the whole congregation. As families are laboring–and it is a labor–to train their little ones, be exceedingly gracious & helpful. This may look like lending a helping hand to a mom when the dad is taking Jr. out. Refrain from giving glares or unsolicited advice. Perhaps ask beforehand if you can help get them the wine during communion, since their hands are full of babies.

The sum is this: while children are most welcome here, we are welcoming them into the delight of God’s presence, not into the narcissist self-absorption of our culture.

Another Article on the Topic

Corralling the Kids As an Act of Worship
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.

Turning a Profit on Disobedience

Turning a Profit on Disobedience

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If you grew up in the conservative Christian community, as I did, and if you often attended worldview conferences, as I did, then this verse is perhaps one of the most familiar to you. It is from that wonderful book of Two Corinthians, as Trump and the British call it, 10:5:

“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. 10:5).”

This passage presents such a vivid picture of what it looks like to engage with falsehoods. It is vital in both our inner man and our cultural engagement to embrace a disposition of demolition experts when it comes to lies, heresies, deceptions, etc. If lust is niggling at your mind, you must tear it down. If jealousy is crowding out all other thoughts, you must bring out the mental bulldozer. If our culture is parading lust down the street, we must engage it with all the gentleness of a polemic atom bomb. If jealousy is passed via legislative spending bills, we need to bring in the wrecking ball.

Imaginations and high things that exalt themselves agains the knowledge of God must be cast down, and brought into captivity. Note that Paul is writing to a congregation, not just an individual. Of course, within our own mind and inner man we must have this ruthless attitude towards internal struggles with sin, doubt, and falsehood. But this is addressed to a community. Thus, it is the community’s responsibility to do something about wicked actions and attitudes within our community, and those which are infiltrating our community.

All of this, though, has to do with obedience to Christ. It is not for the preservation of a peaceful community or a placid inner stability. It is so that our thoughts, both individually and corporately, are obedient to Christ. We don’t just want a pile of the rubble of our disobedience, we want revenge.

The next verse states: “And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled (2 Cor. 10:6).” So, while we are commanded to demolish falsehood, we are not just to leave a smoking crater of destruction. We are to replace falsehood with the towers of truth. The rivals to Christ must be ground to powder, but in the end Christ must be exalted. It does no good to tear down your idols, but fail to obediently worship Christ. In fact, you’ll find more and worse idols crowding in if they are not replaced with adoration for Christ.

When we find that disobedience has been present within us or our community we are to be ready to revenge that disobedience. Disobedience to God’s law is sin, and sin has consequences. But Paul here is teaching us to turn a profit on our sin. You blew it? Great…don’t wallow it, but confess it, use it to drive you to have a greater love for a forgiving and cleansing Savior; let the bitterness of sin cause you to do whatever it takes to flee that sin in the future. If you stole, make restitution four times more than you should. If you are full of seething hate for your brother or sister, leave it and labor to love them sincerely. If we have embraced madness and murder in our laws, we must not only remove those laws, but work to never again enshrine sin in our laws.

Revenge your sin. When you fail, confess it, and do as the Psalmist teaches: “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it (Ps. 34:14).” We flee from evil, in order to do good. Confessing your sin and disobedience by tearing down the idol is part one of obedience. But, revenging your disobedience is that the next time you are tempted to do that sin, you do what is righteous instead. Obedience to Christ is two-fold. On one hand, we confess our sin. On the other, we…you know…actually obey. Christ doesn’t save us merely to forgive our sins and help us stop sinning, but so that we would actually do righteously (1 Jn. 3:7).

In short, in demolishing falsehood we mortify the disobedience, but by erecting the truth by vivifying the fruits of righteousness we revenge our former disobedience. Where once was a monument to sin and self, stands a monument to the exalted Christ. For instance, where there are now Planned Parenthoods, there must soon be birthing centers. This is the ultimate revenge. This is how we turn a profit on our disobedience.

The Ultimate Authority

The Ultimate Authority

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Sermon: The Ultimate Authority from Canon Wired on Vimeo.

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Introduction

The question for every nation, generation, and individual is “who is in charge: you or God”? We are never left in neutral territory. The world is divided, down the middle, of those who are obedient to Christ and his commands, or those who obey the moral code of the mob. As Christians, we must never leave off obedience to Christ for the sake of the traditions, fads, or fashions of men, no matter how noble they may seem.

The Text

Matthew 21:23-32

And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

Summary of the Text

This exchange between Christ and the chief priests comes right after some quite notable moments: the triumphal entry (vs. 1-11) and the clearing of the temple (vs. 12-13); Jesus then heals in the temple (vs. 14-16). The next day on his way back into Jerusalem he commands an unfruitful fig tree to whither, which it does, and then Jesus teaches his disciples on the power of believing prayer (vs. 17-22).

It is in the light of these episodes that Matthew presents us with the chief priests questioning Christ’s authority to teach (v. 23); Jesus responds to their question with his own question regarding John the Baptist’s origin (vs. 24-25); the priests huddle-up and come up with the ficklest of replies, “dunno” (v. 27). So, Jesus pointedly gives His answer by refusing to give the answer (v. 27) and by telling the parable of the two sons (vs. 28-31).

The father in the parable commands one son to go work in his vineyard (v. 28), the son refuses, then repents, and then obeys (v. 29); so the father commands the second son, who then gives lip-service to obedience, but in fact, simply does not obey (v. 30). Jesus then asks them which of the sons did the will of the father, and they acknowledge that it was the one which actually obeyed the father and went to work in the vineyard (v. 31); Jesus then summarizes the point: repentant sinners, not unbelieving Israelites, would enter the awaited kingdom of God (vs. 31-32).

Obedience & Authority

This parable is often used to moralize about how children should obey their parents the first time; but although that is an important lesson for children to learn, that is not what we are to take away from this parable. This is a parable about which authority we will obey, not whether we will obey at all.

The chief priests query Jesus as to who gave him the authority to teach; Jesus points to the  ministry of John the Baptist to make the obvious truth (that Christ’s authority came from God the Father), even more painfully obvious. John’s ministry resulted in repentance, which David had proclaimed was what God most desired from his people in giving them the covenant signs: “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 (Ps. 51:16-17).” But the chief priests were more akin to those who received Isaiah’s searing rebuke of the unbelieving and unrepentant Israelites of his day: “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men (Isa. 29:13).”

Despite the obvious heavenliness of John’s ministry, they had the more convincing signs of Christ’s ministry: the blind seeing, the lame leaping, the multitudes being fed, the dead being resurrected; but they quibbled over whether Jesus had the proper credentials, degrees, and qualifications to be teaching the people. Jesus simply points to the fact that both John’s ministry and His own were fruitful; whereas, the ministry of the priests and elders was marked by unbelief and unrepentant hearts.

Two Religions

From the beginning there has really only been two religions: the covenant people of God (marked by faith and repentance), and the unregenerate (marked by humanism & idol-worship). The first son in Jesus story, was outwardly rebellious, but later repents & obeys the father’s command. The second son, which we are to associate with unbelieving Israel, visibly and verbally seems to be quite the good little boy, whose cheeks the church ladies are wont to pinch; however, this son flat out disobeys and thus disregards his father’s authority. His disobedience shows a loveless heart, regardless of his flattering tongue.

[epq-quote align=”align-right”]We must either repent and believe, and be saved; or else pretend and be forever lost.[/epq-quote]We must either repent and believe, and be saved; or else pretend and be forever lost. At the end of the story, where do we find the two sons? The first son is precisely where the father desired him to be in the first place: the vineyard; the second son is, due to his disobedience, consequently found outside the vineyard. Notice where the father intends his sons to be: harvesting in a vineyard. The harvest of a vineyard brings the joy of the wine; but only the repentant and obedient son is found where the wine flows, and thus receives joy for his reward. Jesus shows us that the second son is left in the joyless misery of disobedience.

The question for us is, “Which son am I?” Jesus came to save sinners that repent of their disobedience, not sinners that feign obedience and never repent. The harlots and tax-collectors were the most dubious of sinners, but they repented when they heard the Gospel message. They knew they were disobedient to God’s law, authority, and standard; they were guilty as sin, but they repented, and submitted to the authority of God’s Word, and were found obedient to the Father. Jesus wants us to see the hypocrisy and false obedience of the chief priests in the second son; lip-service is not what He demands. Rather, loving obedience, faith & repentance are what He asks of us (Rom. 12:1, Mar. 12:33). As the Psalmist has it: “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit (Ps. 34:18).”

A Great Commission

Matthew, in his Gospel account, is leading up to something. If we’re not careful we might stop short by dwelling on the crucifixion alone, rather than going on to what Christ redeemed by His cross-work and resurrection; namely, a commission, backed by all authority, to go into the Father’s vineyard of this world and preach the Gospel, teaching all nations to obey Christ’s commands (Mt. 28:18-20)!

It is impossible for there to not be a standard; the issue in every generation is from which authority that standard will be derived from. We will obey either the God of creation and how He made the world; or we will obey the whims of our depraved nature.  Either God will be your God, or else Man will be your God.

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Ben Zornes