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(continued from last week) “Jesus is Lord” is the bumper sticker for the kingdom of God that came with Jesus’ coming. He is the Lord heralded in Genesis 3:15 that would crush the serpent’s head, and he is the fulfillment of all those “head crushing saints” sprinkled throughout the bible (Jael, woman with millstone who crushed Abimelech’s head, woman who had Sheba’s head thrown down, the oak tree that crushed Absalom’s head, David who crushed Goliath’s head [as well as chopping it off!], Jehu who had the 70 heads of the descendants of Ahab sliced off, [see your concordance for the rest!])

“Jesus is Lord” is the gospel: Jesus is the one who takes over the king’s domain given to him by the Father in Psalm 2. He is the one who rules with a rod of iron that all kings must kiss and serve lest they end up crushed. Jesus is the “head” who drinks by the brook while shattering the “heads” over the nations (Psalm 110:6-7).

So each Sunday when you sing “Thy kingdom come,” you aren’t just rehearsing a little nursery rhyme. No, you are singing your endorsement of the Father’s plan to give the world’s rule to his Son who smashes heads and says that He is the embodiment of the kingdom; that he is the Ruler who rules well and wise and willingly in the ways of the Father. You are singing that you are a follower of Jesus the Lord, the second Person of the Trinity, the “Yahweh” of the older testament now in flesh, the one who gives salvation to sinners with love and piety.

So remember, “thy kingdom come” is really you singing and meaning “thank you Father that ‘Jesus is Lord’ and you kept your promise to bring him in time and give him the kingdom of his Father David for all of us, sending him as Savior as well that we might be faithful, holy, followers in his kingdom.”

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around here! And it’s only July!

In Vespers this week Pastor Joe meditated briefly on the meaning of “Thy kingdom come” from the Lord’s Prayer, noting that it is our prayer that we pray, and that it is a prayer that we are asking the king to take hold of his domain—king/dom—in a way that he hasn’t yet done. He also mentioned that the request “thy kingdom come” was not the gospel per se (it does involve the forgiveness of sins, etc), and also mentioned that the place of the kingdom is probably here on earth in the future and not in some kind of heaven (see Revelation 21-22).

But if “thy kingdom come” is NOT the gospel, per se, then what is? Most Christians think the gospel is that Jesus came to save sinners and say that prayer on the back of the tract and you’re sprung out of hell forever! A subset of those actually believe you have to believe in Jesus and love him and live for him.

But is salvation from sins the gospel of the bible? Is that the Good News that Jesus preaches when he shows up on lake Galilee? Is salvation by faith even new at that point (what did Paul teach about Abraham in Romans?) The actual proclamation of Jesus was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus says, “give up your old ways, for the kingdom of heaven is here. And how is it here? In my coming, in my appearance.” In other words, the Gospel of the New Testament, what is really new, is “Jesus is Lord.” In his appearance, the kingdom is present and he is the Lord of it because he is calling you, demanding of you, to turn from your old unbelieving ways and join him in his kingdom. The message he proclaims to everyone is “follow me” because “I am the I am,” because “I am the door,” because “I am the life of the world,” because “I am the bread of life,” because “I am the light of the world,” because “I am the Son of God, because “I am the Son of David,”etc. (to be continued)

Pastor Joe did a great job preaching the points of Revelation 18 last week!

But I want to focus on two things particularly that quite clearly apply to us believers and to St. Mark today. First, that of shunning the porneia that killed the harlot, and secondly, the complete and total death of the city/church as a result.

First, the harlot apostate city/church had “fallen” because of her flamboyant sexual immorality (porneia) that she engaged in openly (3, 7). For us today, that’s not just bad theology, but also the embracing of its evil practice. It’s ignoring the scriptural blessings and practices of single and married sexual life, sexual beliefs about pornography, sensuality, abortion, prostitution, fornication, adultery, etc. Our culture, even church culture, is as slovenly drunken with those sins as the harlot appears in 17:4-6. We must consciously deviate, personally and as a church, from any of the present day’s deviant deceptions.

Secondly, we must put off those sins and put on faithful biblical living if we as people and as a church are to live on with vibrant joyful sounds of life. The deafening silence of verses 22-23 are catastrophic! Today’s apostate churches have no baby voices, because abortion or birth control or false teaching on the blessing of children killed them all. There are no musical sounds in the church because there is no reason to praise God in our selfish nihilism. There are no sounds of craftsmen because we don’t believe in dominion anymore; Mother Nature owns everything! There are no sounds of food and no light because there are no more Lord’s Suppers; Jesus stands against all that the harlot stood for. Crucify him! There are no wedding bells because we hate the future and hate love.

All warnings to us to remain faithful to the true Groom, Jesus. Silence is death!

It’s Father’s Day, a cultural holiday designed to honor fathers while lining the tradesman’s pockets with cash spent on sentimental gifts for dad… but I digress.

While Pastor Joe has been focusing on the Father in his Vesper homilies, it might be good to remind fathers, on their day, that they are raising and training their children to move on, to leave, to mature from glory to glory to the point they can leave “father and mother and cleave” to their spouse (Genesis 2:24).

So often parents dream of their children living next door all their lives, having a compound with their children and spouses and grandchildren all around them, happily ever after. But those children all have separate households and wholly other spouses than mom’s and dad’s genes and things don’t always work out, leaving everyone in a huff because they finally learned that father-in-laws and mother-in-laws don’t have equal authority in their children’s families. No, their son or son-in-law is in charge, and he, in Jesus, might not see eye to eye with them.

So fathers, on your day, be thinking about how biblical fathers train their children to look outward, to build the kingdom with and from their own family, in their own calling, all to the glory of God. Fathers, be thinking about how to model masculinity to your sons, with Jesus as the model: fearless, compassionate, caring, teachable, but also a leader who knows the heavenly Father’s goals, etc. Fathers, be thinking about how to love your daughters so that they are filled with kind love that they’ll want to source from the right husband in the future, and not fall for any “love ‘em and leave ‘em” types. Teach them the value of masculine leadership and provision and protection, so they’ll seek that out from a godly man as well.

All of this, of course, flows from you imitating the heavenly Father.

In case you didn’t see this, from our own Marc Hays:

DOWN SYNDROME: GOD’S GIFT TO THE WORLD

This past week, a prominent YouTuber announced that he and his wife had decided to “terminate their pregnancy” because they found out that the baby would likely have Down Syndrome. As the father of a young man with Down Syndrome, I’d like to take a moment to comment.

First, abortion is murder no matter the physical or genetic condition of the baby. If the baby is alive, then there ought to be a delivery, making every attempt to preserve that life, no matter the prospective difficulties that the child and/or the parents may face.

Second, the world needs more people with an extra 21st chromosome, not fewer. Have you, dear reader, ever met someone with Down syndrome? Were you sad or happy that you did? If you really know one, do you want to imagine a world without them?

When Alan, my son with a designer chromosome, was born, he had a hole in his heart that was too large to close naturally. He weighed only 3.7 pounds and the doctors wanted us to get him up to 6 pounds before the surgery, as the success rate at 6 pounds was drastically higher than the one at 3.7. Alan ate, Alan grew, Alan reached 6 pounds, and he received a successful heart surgery. Outside of that single major medical event, he has been the healthiest of my 6 children. The rest of the family would all come down with whatever “bug” was passing through, yet Alan usually remained healthy and strong. He got sick around 20% of the times the rest of us did.

(Continued at: https://www.kings-mill.com/blog/down-syndrome-gods-gift-to-the-world)

It’s Springtime and the world is bursting forth with life, color, and song. The birds and Robins are out in force, the rabbits are making hay, and the variations of creation’s green is approaching infinite. It’s all a very enjoyable season, delightful to the eyes, ears, skin, and even most people’s noses.

But is it ok to enjoy all this bursting of creation? Is it right to rejoice and splish-splash in all the flowers and grasses and fruits and streams of spring? Is it ok to revel in the fun of watching my dog splash through the six-inch deep water of the HOA’s retention pond, acting like she’s some 6 month old puppy, flipping left and right and hopping up and down and showering herself with showers of liquid rainbow light?

Jesus says it is: “…and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart” (Psalm 104:15). Wine and oil and bread could have just been medicinal; but Jesus broadens their blessings into the realm of joy and satiation and beauty.

The other JC agrees. In his chapter on The Right Use of the Present Life (Institutes, Book III), and under the section Earthly Things are Gifts of God, Calvin says: “Should the Lord have attracted our eyes to the beauty of the flowers, and our sense of smell to pleasant odors, and should it then be sin to drink them in?

“Has he not even made the colors so that the one is more wonderful than the other? Has he not granted to gold and silver, to ivory and marble a beauty which makes them more precious than other metals and stones?

“In one word, has he not made many things worth our attention that go far beyond our needs?” Like the Chinese waiter always says, “Enjoy!”

When Christians read about the fall of Adam, they don’t realize that the serpent was sent as an angel to help minister and mature Adam and Eve (Hebrews 1:14). Eve’s response demonstrates a level of maturity about his question, as she responds that they may not eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle, nor touch it. At this point Satan chooses to rebel against God, and falls, and attempts to gain control of God’s newly created world, replying, “You will surely not die.”

But what else Christians don’t realize as well is that Adam is standing there during this conversation (3:6b), and he fails to do his duty: guard the garden. Protect it from invaders or danger or attack. Satan contradicts the word of God, and Adam should have acted to defend his bride and the garden. But he doesn’t.

Now fast forward 4000 years, and when the Second Adam is in the garden, and Satan enters it in the personage of Judas to spoil it and win the new world order, acting craftily with a betraying kiss and a pleasant greeting, Jesus defends the garden and his bride. He steps forward and says “Whom do you seek?” and “I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go” (John 18:5–8). Jesus defended his bride, the eleven disciples. He guarded the garden, giving up himself for the bride.

So remember that Jesus is always guarding you, his bride, and has been doing so all your life. And he’s been guarding all the believers around you, all their lives. He loves his bride, he loves you, and he moves to protect you in ways you can’t even imagine. He guards you for good, 24/7/till death. Be grateful by giving thanks that you don’t just have a guardian angel, but a Guardian Lord!

Pentecost is a great time of remembrance and celebration. The giving of the Holy Spirit upon believers in order to be lights and temples in the pagan and unfaithful Jewish culture is worth remembering. Also worth remembering is the beginning of the filling of ordinary Christians with the Holy Spirit upon baptism (Acts 2:38). The text relates that none of those 3000 baptized that day went about exercising extraordinary gifts such as healing, tongues, or prophesying. They were just normal Christians who were temples of Christ filled with his Holy Spirit.

So what did the normal baptized Christians do? Verse 42 says they devoted themselves “to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Things you can be doing today in the modern church!

The Apostles’ teaching? We have that recorded in the Acts and the Newer Testament. But are you devoting yourself to their teaching? Are you discussing their teaching in your family and with Christian friends? And are you giving yourself to the fellowship which that devotion creates? At church when the doors open? And linger to fellowship? And attend other outside gatherings and get togethers? The Christian faith is about relationships, not just propositional truth. But you can’t get to know people without being around them!

“Breaking of bread” is probably a reference to the Lord’s Supper, and in those days, daily. So keep up your weekly worship, whether at St. Mark or another church if you’re on the road or vacation, etc. Prayers? Probably those that occur in the liturgy, but there’s nothing wrong with a personal prayer life after reading the scriptures. There’s always plenty to give thanks for—like the Holy Spirit!

We are all familiar with “being in Christ” with regard to our baptism. Romans 6:3–4 makes it very clear: being baptized into Christ means being baptized into his death and being raised to newness of life. We entered into death “in Christ” and “into resurrection” in baptism. That should be a great consolation to every believer: no longer enslaved to sin, but having new life in Christ (6:5–8).

The same is true regarding the ascension of Jesus, which the church observed this past week. We, as believers, also share in his ascension into heaven to reign and rule. Paul implies in Colossians 3:1 that we sit at the right hand of God with Christ, and that being heavenly, we are to be heavenly-minded even as we live on earth. Ephesians 2:6 says it explicitly: “and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…”

So you are an “ascension” person in Christ. You are heavenly bound, by and in faith and finally as part of the Bride of Christ (Revelation 20–22). You are a person who transcends the boundaries between heaven and earth in Christ. Presently, this is all by faith, for faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

But God hasn’t left us without any practice of ascension in this life. Every week, in worship, you ascend as part of the body of Christ into his heavenly presence, gathered around the throne. You are called to heaven, washed for the trip, and then having ascended, you are transformed by his word and meal. For while in heaven, you feed on Christ, that you may become more like Christ! And then Jesus sends you back down to earth to share the good news of his Lordship, and so invite the world to join you next week in our weekly ascension!

Psalm 22 is full of jewels, as Pastor Joe made clear in his preaching to us last week. While you can’t say everything in one sermon, two more jewels from this Psalm deserve a second look.

First are verses 9–10, (chiastic arrangement: womb>trust>>cast on you>womb) which make clear that God is your covenantal God right from conception, birth, and early childhood. Parents can rejoice that their God is the God of their children, long before they understand that reality. Long before they exhibit visible faith, they are trusting in their God right from the womb! That’s great encouragement in our training: these are God’s children because when he called the parents to faith, he was calling the children to be his as well in compliance with the Abrahamic promise: I will be God to you and to your children. So teach and nurture and love them confident in God’s great love and attachment to HIS children!

Secondly, these two verses, 9 and 10, are coupled with verse 11, which brings the reader back to David’s present distress: “trouble is near and there is none to help.” David shifts from children to their parents; from the younger generation to the older generation. His point? God is with you as well; in fact, he’s been with you since the womb. Meaning he won’t abandon you now in the hour of your need! And be encouraged: God has been with you your whole covenantal life! David begins to seriously press this home in verse 19: “But you, O Yahweh, be not far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!” Verse 26 wraps it up: “The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied.”

From young to old, from safe to afflicted, God is your God! Rely on him, trust in him, as he taught you from the womb. For there is no other!

I hope that you listened intently to Pastor Joe’s sermon last week on Psalm 23.

In my own ministry I find it more and more one of those “beast of burden” Psalms: it readily carries a heavy load in counseling or wisdom situations.

But Pastor Joe pointed out why it is such a great Psalm: because it is about JESUS, not some distant and unknown Lord. The modern translations supply LORD for “Yahweh,” and so we think of someone named LORD as a person of office—a King, Knight, ruler, feudal superior, etc. Like “Lord Vader,” “Lord Farquaad,” “Lord Sauron,” etc. But “Yahweh” is God’s personal name, like Bob or Tom or Peter. Someone you know or can get to know. Someone you are to know deeply, like Jesus, your brother, your savior, your advocate.

So it’s Jesus, the God-man, and not a distant LORD, who gives you what you need, who makes you rest in peace places, who is beside you in difficult times, who does surgery on your soul, who leads you in righteous and protects you in situations of death, (“I died, and behold I am alive forevermore” Revelation 1:18). He’s the one who gives you all kinds of glorious meals, whether in worship or at a broken home. He’ll pursue you to death so that you dwell with him forever. “Further up and further in!”

The second great thing Pastor Joe did is forever remove this Psalm as just a picture with little lamb-like children all around Jesus. That’s a true picture in the Gospel’s, but this is a warrior Jesus, a fighting man, a God and savior who does all these things not only for children, but also for adults. Primarily for adults. Even really old adults

We often discuss the event of salvation, and maybe our own salvation, in a gnostic manner; we talk about “salvation” separated from history, as in the ordo salutis: calling, regeneration, repentance, faith, obedience, etc., all wrapped up in God’s electing decree (we hope!). All these things happen as points on a line hanging in space. So our discussions about salvation tend to be timeless, ethereal, otherworldly.

But that is not how the Scriptures speak about salvation. Salvation of God’s people is always in the context of a story, not philosophy. It’s always personal, not just gnostic spiritualizing. Salvation, our salvation, your salvation, is deeply rooted in history: the stories of your forebears, your experiences in life, your local home and church scene, your prayers and bible reading, your friends and enemies, the books and movies and social stuff you use for entertainment and conspiracies, etc.

Which brings us back to Eastertide and the Ascension of Jesus, recorded in the Gospels and Acts. It’s another historical example, THE example, of a King who comes and takes his place upon his throne to rule, protect, provide, and instruct his people in the way of living in the true kingdom of God. By his ascension and rule in history we are caught up into the divine Trinity, made members of a community rich in history and story and fellowship. How glorious is the Ascension of Jesus!

And you were ushered into that story and fellowship of the Ascension of Jesus and the Trinitarian fellowship by your baptism!

Which, of course, is part of your story in Jesus.