sin

The Fire & Fury of the Living God

September 2, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Introduction

The prophetic ministry is not an extra-curricular activity of some believers. Rather, preaching is a part of our corporate worship. We affirm that in the reading and explanation of God’s Word, we are hearing God speak to us. But man would rather reach for the volume knob of his distractions. But God will be heard, and if these are the echoes of His ways, what will you do when He thunders?

The Text

1 The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. 2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD. 3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD. 4 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests; . . .
Zephaniah 1:1-18

Summary of the Text

Zephaniah begins with a personal lineage, which appears to intimate that he’s related to the royal family; there’s also an important mention of polar opposite kings of Judah: godly Josiah and his wicked father Amon. This locates when this prophecy was given––~626BC (v1). Then commences the announcement of God’s coming wrath, which is described in all-encompassing terms; reminiscent of God’s global judgement in Noah’s day (cf. Gen. 6:7) (vv2-3). Judah and Jerusalem are brought into the crosshairs, and we begin to see why God is readying to unleash His holy wrath on the whole world: worship of Baal and the heavenly host persists (Manasseh’s influence), mixed in with a fair helping of swearing by both the Lord and Malcham, and plenty of apathetic apostasy (vv 4-6).

The Jews should lay their hand on their mouth if they think to object to this sweeping judgement, because the oft foretold “day of the Lord” was now imminent (v7). God Himself has prepared a sacrificial meal and invited His guests. The twist here is that Judah will be the sacrifice, and it would seem that the summoned guests are the nations (Cf. Jer. 10:25) which God has brought to “devour” Judah (v7b).

Certain groups are held up as epitomizing the offenses which God is coming to punish: the royal family who have arrayed themselves in “strange apparel” (v8) (Cf. 2 Ki. 10:22, Isa. 3:18), and those who “leap/rush over the threshold” in order to obtain plunder for their masters’ house (v9) (Cf. 1 Sam. 5:5). Think Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham. Lest the commoners think they are somehow so insignificant as to escape the Lord’s notice, Zephaniah describes the cries and howls which will issue across Jerusalem when this ruination comes (vv10-11).

God will be thorough in His search for evildoers, and there won’t be a crevice in which to hide; those who had been dismissive of former prophetic warnings won’t be able to be dismissive anymore (v12). Judah will be wholly plundered, and all the deuteronomic blessings whisked away (v13).

Zephaniah echoes and summarizes earlier prophets’ warnings of “the day of the Lord.” It is near. It is terrible. It is an inescapable reality (vv14-16). As one economist once shrewdly pointed out: “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” This judgement will be devastating, and neither their silver nor gold will deliver them. The fierce fire of the Lord’s jealousy is upon them and He is thundering down upon them to expel them from the land, and wish them, “good riddance (vv17-18).”

The Exceeding Sinfulness of Sin

One of the most damning effects of sin is that we call evil good, and good evil. Sin is so wicked because not only do we trespass in the commission of the sinful act, but we sin by telling ourselves that the sin is necessary, even right. Not only do we sin, we redefine our sin. We buttress ourselves against what our guilty consciences witness against us.

Zephaniah presents us a vivid picture in response to man’s temptation to paper over his sin. God is coming, candle in hand, searching every nook and cranny of Jerusalem to find those who had grown indifferent to the Lord’s claim over that Holy City. God is shown here as hunting down and searching out those who have said in their hearts, “God isn’t going to do good or evil.” But as the Psalmist taught us, only the fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

The Gospel Arc

Zephaniah’s opening salvo leaves no wiggle room for the warm fuzzies of our modern evangelical nannies, which all too often rush in and comfort us with “There, there…God is love.” Some scholars bemoan how derivative this book is, because it borrows imagery from more gifted prophets like Amos and Isaiah. But we should see in Zephaniah a lovely succinctness––a prophetic bluntness––made to startle the complacent. His main objective is to disturb the complacent with a simple but vibrant warning.

In some Christian circles it has become increasingly en vogue to avoid the bad news of the Gospel. They think presenting Jesus as merely an example of tolerance, love, and kindness is all the Church is called to. Good as those virtues are, they are not the ground of our salvation. Kindness is only good if defined biblically. Otherwise it becomes like a child who feeds the new puppy too much dog food simply because neither the child nor the puppy know how to stop.

But, the Gospel, faithfully preached, must first make the unrepentant sinner miserable. That is the Gospel arc we see here in this short prophetic book: a shocking rebuke, a call to repentance, and then, and only then, the assurance of mercy to those who turn to the Lord.

In our age of self-esteem, this is avoided at all cost, even in many pulpits. Nevertheless, the prophetic denouncement of sins big and small, sins of the royalty and sins of the commoners, corporate sins and individual sins, and the just wrath that awaits such sins is meant to incite sinners to ask “What must I do to be saved?”

What Must I Do?

Trying to carve out God’s love as if it can stand apart from His justice is denying His immutability. It assumes that God’s love cannot be so fierce as to burn with the heat of a thousand suns when wickedness is allowed to flourish. God will not be pitted against Himself.

Instead of blushing at the severity of the prophet’s voice, or bubble-wrapping the bad news of the Good News we need to wince. The prophetic Word insists, “Don’t ignore the warnings. Don’t minimize them. Don’t scoff at them.” When God warns, the thing you must do is ask, “Is there anything else? Show it all to me!” Don’t look for refuge in comparison shopping your sin compared to other more grievous sins.

Some may want to balk at Zephaniah’s hyperbole. Isn’t he overdoing it? But often a pastor needs to wave his hands and say in simple terms, “Stop it.” Spurgeon once commented on the severe nature of Zephaniah’s prophetic book, “I bless the Bible for being severe with my unbelief.” Do you want God to “go easy” on evil? Do you really want a God who yawns at wickedness? Do you really want God to let the vilest men never be brought to justice?

The Lord’s City

Remember that this city which is at the epicenter of God’s global judgement, was His city. Judah had broken God’s law, neglected it, mixed it with idolatry, spurned it, and were indifferent to the covenant of their King. Now the King warns, by his messenger, that He’s coming to bring justice down.

So the question is, have you hidden sin way down deep, thinking God won’t care, God won’t notice, nobody was hurt? God has a claim on you. He will search it out. He will bring it out. He will expose it, and that is a grace. But remember, the only place to flee from the wrath of the Living God is in the Living God.

There are two perspectives on when these prophecies were given. Was it before Josiah’s reforms, or after? My position is that it is after, mainly because of the reference to the “remnant of Baal” in verse 4. That being the case, how much more damning is it that they made a good start, but compromised so quickly, got distracted so easily, and in the midst of a wonderful revival many among them tried to preserve just a sliver of their idolatry?

We have made a good start at reformation here in Moscow. But let us not grow weary, lest our reformation being corrupted by compromise become a greater weight of condemnation. Are you trying to dress in strange apparel? Are you upright in business or are you rushing over the threshold to plunder the poor? Are you operating under the assumption that when judgement comes you can hide from the Lord in some remote corner of the Idaho woods? The only place to turn, the only place to flee is Jesus, the true King. The only King who became sin for us, so that all of God’s righteous wrath might be poured out upon Him instead of you. The only King who can truly and fully reform His people. So do not undertake a merely carnal reformation. That’s just French revolution in slow motion. We want a reformation which only the Spirit of God can bring. We want a revival which is sparked by the holy fire of God.

Sins Great and Small

January 13, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Big sins are built on the backs of a thousand little sins. Sequoia sins like murder, adultery, embezzlement, apostasy, or fraud don’t grow overnight. They arise out of a thousand lies you tell yourself. A thousand minor compromises. A thousand squints at the clear lines of God’s law. A thousand fudging of the numbers in our moral accounting books.

Imagine roaring down the highway at night, in an unfamiliar area, and suddenly right ahead of you is a paper sign across the road. The font is tiny, and to make things worse the font is Comic Sans, but it reads: “Bridge Out!” As you careen to your death in the icy river below, you won’t be thinking to yourself, “What a legalistic sign!”

Rather, if you’re careening towards such danger, you want to have warning signs up ten miles down the road. You want flashing lights. You want a sign that lights up with a big orange glow, visible from Pluto, when your headlights hit it. You want signs to warn you if you start hurtling down the path towards disaster.

King David once prayed, “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression (Psa. 19:13).” Are there sins of resentment which you are treasuring up? Are you telling yourself lies about your motives for hanging out with certain friends? Have you justified watching some questionable movies under the pretense of “understanding the culture”? Have you cut corners at your job? Have you gone to bed angry at your spouse, or kids, or others?

If you feel the prick of conviction from those questions, remember that that conviction is a road sign, warning of a calamitous fall awaiting those who recklessly and willfully plow forward. A disastrous fall will come to the haughty man who refuses to heed the warning sign; but grace, upon grace, upon grace is given to the humble man who repents and flees from the little sins, and thus is kept from great sins.

No Prosthetic Hands

August 26, 2019 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

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.

The Two Parts of Repentance

February 19, 2019 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Repentance is a two part act of faith. First, it turns from sin, and second, it pursues after God. First, it mortifies, second, it vivifies. First, it sees how vile, wicked, and deadly sin is, second, it flees to God, to enjoy the light of His glory. First, it reviles the sin, second, it hungers and thirsts for righteousness.

Repentance is incomplete if it only sees sin as bad, turns from it, and sits there. Many times, we want to turn our back to sin, but not budge an inch away from it…after all, sin gives the best back rubs. But true, evangelical repentance, after seeing how bad sin is, turns away from it in godly fear, and seeks after God. It turns from vice, to seek after virtue.

Halfway repentance sees that the table of sin is spread with moldy jams, rotten roasts, bread made from sawdust, with maggots and cockroaches crawling over all of it. Halfway repentance will turn away from this putrid “feast,” but it sticks around for the company. Full repentance is revolted by sin’s feast, turns away from it, and runs––full-tilt––to this table.

You must not only feel bad for your sin, you must savor Christ. You must not only flee from the death which your sin deserves, but you must cling to the life which is found in Jesus. You must forsake your sin, and feed your faith upon the Lamb of God. Have you despised your sin? Have you grieved over how it offends a holy God? Well and good. Repentance must not stop there. True repentance will always make its way to this meal; to the body and blood of our Lord Jesus.

So come in faith, and welcome to Jesus…

The Kavanaugh Rule

September 27, 2018 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

The Left’s favorite Bible verse, and perhaps the only one they know, is “Judge not, that ye be not judged (Mt. 7:1).” Take that back…they also know the one Levitical law about sewing two types of seed in one field or sewing a garment with two types of fabric (Lev. 19:19), which they trot out to make us embarrassed about even thinking to appeal to God’s Law when it comes to sexual regulations.

But “judge not” is still their pet-verse. So, let’s use it shall we? The next line, for those who have actually read it in context proceeds thus, “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again (Mt. 7:2).” In essence, whatever the standard is with which you are demanding another be judged, you must be willing to submit yourself to the same standard of judgement.

This is really delightful. So, Kavanaugh has been accused of (now multiple) instances of sexual shenanigans. The Left is demanding that the FBI investigate all these accusations. We wouldn’t want our Supreme Court sullied by such a miscarriage of justice would we? We wouldn’t want such a bastion of uprightness which has ruled that black men were property, mothers can butcher their babies in utero, and two dudes can enter the fruit-bearing union of marriage. No, we’d never want the bench soiled.

A Sexual Audit of Congress

So I propose an audit of the sexual history of all members of Congress. The whole debauched lot of them. We want a list of the parties they attended, who was there, and what went down. How many interns have been paid off, after all?

What measure you mete out, it shall be meted out to you. But that’s not what this is all about. This isn’t about justice. This is about power. Today, Dr. Ford (Kavanaugh’s accuser) and Kavanaugh both gave emotional testimony. DURING the hearings both the GOP and Democrats sent out campaign fundraising emails. The gnawing hunger for power is a heckuva drug.

In the maelstrom which is 2018 politics, do not forget that this is a fight. Father Christmas might remind us that battles are ugly things when women fight them. The battle will be fought in the pristine (insert sarcasm here) halls of our government. But the battle will be won by fathers fighting for their sons to be men of honor. Sons who aren’t given to strong drink, porn, or sloth. The battle will be won by fathers defending their daughters by insisting they not go to those parties. The battle will be won by mothers sacrificing the cultural prestige of a career for the greater privilege of rearing their children to fear the Lord.

Tit for Tat

What is taking place in front of us is the bruised ego of progressives retaliate for the scorching of 2016. If they are successful in destroying Kavanaugh, and taking back the Senate, House or both, the Republicans are already threatening to employ similar dirty politics. The tit for tat of vengeance will always lead us to destroy our enemies.

The Gospel offers a means whereby we might route our enemies. It doesn’t offer a touchy-feely, “let’s all get along” mindset. It demands that we all die, in Christ, to our sin. The death of Christ is the only means whereby any family, city, or nation might have peace with each other; and only by being at peace with God first.

Our nation has embraced sexual license and now is flabbergasted at how bad that’s worked out. Our nation has enshrined avarice, and then are shocked when those whose ambition brought them to the top abuse their power. We’ve knocked the load-bearing wall out of the house our more godly and wise forefathers built, and now wonder why there’s a sagging ceiling in the living room. The only recourse is to return to the Gospel which airs all our dirty laundry, all our vile secrets, and offers forgiveness for it all…through a man whose reputation and very life was sacrificed for yours.

No Time For Licking Wounds

August 27, 2018 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Today isn’t a gathering for licking the wounds of our failures this week. We aren’t here to bemoan the boot of sin upon our necks. We aren’t here to mope, sulk, or wallow in despair. Church isn’t a place to learn helpful strategies for negotiating a cease-fire with sin. This isn’t a therapy session so you can better cope with your “bad habits”. This isn’t a place to get some pointers on more positive thinking. This isn’t a support group for our mutual commiseration.

This worship service is intended to glorify God and to renew our faith. And this is our faith: Jesus Christ is King. He has conquered all His––and consequently your––enemies. He sits at the right hand of the Father, and all authorities, powers, and dominions––not only in this world, but in the world to come––are His. The Gospel we preach here is that Christ has overcome, He is ascended on high, and all things are subject unto Him. In Christ, we come today as more than conquerors. We come to a victory celebration. We come to enjoy the spoils of the war which our Lord has won. As a triumphant king, He now bestows gifts unto His people. His bounty becomes theirs. He leads His saints in a triumphal procession.

Your sin is not the victor. Your Christ is. As you confess your sins, you are not to take your eyes off of a triumphant Christ to look at your dismal track record this week. Confession of sin is the exact opposite. It’s a refusal to let your sin keep you any longer blind to the mercy and victory found in the Lord of Hosts. Sin promises exaltation but brings humiliation. Jesus invites you to bend low and confess your sin and in doing so He lifts you up.

Turning a Profit on Disobedience

March 23, 2018 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

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.

“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 (Two 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.

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 (Two 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.

Confession & the New Birth

March 12, 2018 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

One of the most important features of the new birth is described to us by the Apostle John when he says “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God (1 Jn. 3:9).” This doesn’t mean that after your conversion you no longer sin, but it does mean that you have a new covenantal status and a new nature.

First, God looks with lavish love upon those who are baptized into Christ by faith, just as He looks upon His beloved Son. God looks at you and sees Jesus. Your new covenantal status changes who you are: a son and daughter of God. However, by His Spirit, He also has begotten Christ within you and is continually working to purge out the filth and taint of the old nature. This new nature changes what you do: you do righteousness, flee sin, and confess sin when you see it rear its ugly head within you.

But looking at our heart is exactly the opposite of where God would have us look.Sometimes we might think that God isn’t very good at sanctifying us because we look at our heart and see only pride, envy, lust, anger, and despair. But looking at our heart is exactly the opposite of where God would have us look. We are not to sit as judges in our own case. We ought not look within to see if our good works outweigh our sins. Rather, we must look to Christ and trust that by faith in Him God looks with joy upon us and doesn’t see sinners but sees saints. God does a better job of saving sinners than leaving us under the thumb of our sins; He plants His seed within us, like a master gardener nurtures the fruit of righteousness in us.

When done in faith, confessing our sins is an act of Spirit-born righteousness, and is gladly received by the Father because He looks upon You and sees Jesus. When done in unbelief, confession of sins is just one more act of sinful self-righteousness. So in Christ, by His Spirit, see your sin for what it is, repent of it, forsake it, and rejoice that through Christ our Mediator, you are reconciled unto God.