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Pastor Joe emphasized the statement of Jesus, “if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,” when he preached to us about reformation on Reformation Sunday. That was spot on. We must anchor our lives and obedience in what is the truth as it comes from the mouth of the second person of the Trinity. “By what standard” is always a valid question when we start thinking or talking about faithfulness and ethical standards.

But the answer of the Jews to the statement of Jesus is also worth noting (John 8:33). They note that “We are the offspring of Abraham…” Not only does this tell us that they weren’t listening to Jesus, it also tells us that generation of Jews, at least historically speaking, did not learn anything from the exile into Babylon. They are still resting and trusting in their Jewish bloodline, rather than trusting in Yahweh by faith. They are still looking to their covenantal status rather than looking to Yahweh and trusting him. In fact, and in spite of their covenantal status, Yahweh threw them out of the land because of their unfaithfulness, their idolatry, their sins, and their rebellion to his Word.

Yes, it’s good to have a covenantal legacy; it’s good to come from a long line of Christian believers. But as the body is composed of individuals, so we as those individuals must wholeheartedly believe and act in accordance with faith in Christ in our own lives and generation. “We” must run the race with endurance (Hebrews 12:1) and not rest on the status or legacy from which we originate. John the Baptizer said that God could make “children of Abraham” out of the stones if he wanted to (Matt. 3:9). Undoubtedly, he can make Christians as well. But what matters is the good fruit that comes from abiding in Christ himself, and his word.

While Martin Luther may have kicked off a reformation in the 1500s with the 95 Theses, the pattern of reformation is all over scripture and all over history. God is a God who re-creates, and re-forms. Consider King Josiah of whom scripture says, “And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.” (2 Kings 22:2). King Josiah enacted a reformation in the kingdom tribe of Judah on the following fronts:

1. He returned Judah to the word. Hilkiah the priest and Shaphan the scribe delivered the word of God to him and he repented of Judah’s unfaithfulness (2 Kings 22:10–13).

2. He returned Judah to the right worship of Yahweh. The people were engaged in syncretistic worship with unclean things made for Baal and Asherah having been brought into God’s house. This was liturgical sin. Josiah put these things out (2 Kings 23:4) and made sure the people observed the covenant meal (vv. 21–24).

3. He removed unfaithful priests (2 Kings 23:5). Judah could not be faithful if her minsters were unfaithful.

4. He removed the idols (2 Kings 23:6–8). God has commanded His people not to engage in the worship of him (or anything else) by means of idols. Josiah rid the land of the idols.

5. He removed the high places used to worship false gods (2 Kings 23:13–15).

On this Reformation Day, we should consider this example set for us by Josiah. We should seek to elect good leaders like Josiah, make the word of God preeminent in our lives, worship, and the public square like Josiah did, we should engage in right worship and not liturgical paganism, we should not follow unfaithful ministers (and be thankful for faithful ministers like pastors Joe and Burke), we should remove idols in our lives and in the culture, and we should remove high places that keep us from worshipping God with all our heart.

Consider this Reformation Day how you can live a reformational life — re-fashioned, re-created, re-formed by our great God. Pray for the Holy Spirit to spark once again a reformation in us and our culture!

In chapter 7 of Revelation we see the saints crying out “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And then we see the angels who surround the throne respond with a seven-fold blessing. With the full coming of the new covenant, the angels begin to respond to our liturgical leadership!

For a little while, we were lower than the angels, Psalm 8:5

Until Christ, until Faith came, the angels administered the “guardian” law as tutors for mankind, Galatians 3.23-26.

But now that Christ has come, they take their cues from us! They are ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those inheriting salvation, Hebrews 1:14. The Apostle says we are to judge angels, 1 Corinthians 6. “For two thousand years, … the church conducts the heavenly worship, united to the chief liturgist, the Lamb of God … The angels praise in response to our praise, sing in response to our song, pray as we pray, trumpet when we trumpet, and pour out plagues on God’s enemies as we commune at the Lord’s table” (PJL).

In Christ, you have been exalted to rule with him, to lead in worship even the angels! You have been exalted with Christ in his own exaltation, even as he promised the churches of Thyatira and Laodicea.

So rejoice and revel in what you have been given by your union to Jesus your Savior, and then, grasp that exaltation by faith so that you can “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12-13). What a wonderful position to be in! What a task you have!

This past Monday and Tuesday Pastors Thacker and Shade and Elder Kernodle attended the 31st meeting of Athanasius Presbytery in Greenfield, SC. Monday evening was a time of fellowship and eating together, preceded by an outside Vesper’s service where all 60-70 attendees worshipped and sang together. Tuesday was the actual Presbytery meeting (14 churches), with several items of business:

The first was the reception of a mission church (mission church being a new church overseen by another existing church for at least a period of two years) in Fairhope, AL, which was turned down due to a lack of clarity on the issues of credobaptism and paedobaptism and the efficacy of baptism on the part of the present leadership. The consensus of Presbytery to the mission church and its sponsor was to clear up these issues and come back again in the future.

The second item of business was the receiving of two previously ordained men to be the pastors of churches in Knoxville, TN and in Newnan, GA. Drew Maney and Grant Van Brimmer both gave biography’s of their past religious lives, training and experience, as well as family details. Both were warmly welcomed.

The third items of business were mission church reports, where the Presiding Minister, Pastor Thacker, allowed each mission church to briefly address the body on their present situation, trajectory, and prayer requests. Athanasius Presbytery presently has ten mission churches who gave reports.

Our next meeting is April 2025 in Valparaiso, FL.

After conclusion of the meeting, we all enjoyed the lunch hosted by Christ the King Church of Greenville.

A famous poet once wrote: “I think that perchance I shall never see, something as beautiful as Psalm 73.” Or something like that!

But it’s true! Why? Because it expresses the constant frustration of the righteous when they see the prosperity of the wicked. That’s what we see every day in the news, on social media, any screen: the wicked’s apparent prosperity.

To Asaph, they appear to be living the “good life,” the “salt life,” the “beach life,” you name it. They have fatness of life, overflowing hearts of laughter, arrogant defiance with violence that covers them like a garment. They constantly scoff at God while questioning his knowledge of their antics. It’s so bad Asaph is tempted to think that in vain he has kept this heart and life pure and innocent. He can’t sort it all out, how this works in God’s world.

But then, he goes into the sanctuary of God (17), and he sees things as they really are; then he sees the end of the wicked. God really has set them up in slippery places; he makes them to fall to ruin, they are ruined in a minute. Diddy? Epstein? Nixon? Lennon? Hitler? Mussolini? Alexander? Rehoboam? Goliath?

From the sanctuary he realizes God is constantly with him, guiding him with counsel, receiving him in glory. God really is the strength of his heart, forever!

So where do you get this sanctuary perspective? From being in the sanctuary! From being with God’s people called out on Sunday morning by Jesus, gathered to worship Him and see Him and realize, once again, Yes, Jesus is on the throne and ruling and His eyes see all and He has us all in His hands!

Seems like Asaph is making something very clear to us: only wild horses should keep you from the Sanctuary on Sunday morning!

38 days till election day, and by all accounts it’s a frustrating election cycle. Both parties promise the moon, with the party in power trying to buy their way to victory giving out free stuff, whether forgiveness of college loans, investment of billions in your community, house loans, citizenship privileges, etc. The party out of power tries to buy your vote with goodies in the future, such as lower taxes/no taxes on tips, lower inflation, high tariffs to protect your job, deporting illegal aliens who are stealing your jobs, or the ending of regulations for businesses.

In the end, it amounts to more socialism, more statism, more greed, more elites handing you what is good for you, even if you don’t know it yet.

The candidates themselves are flawed as well. Nationally, they have serious non-Christian morality flaws, sinful views of sexuality and abortion, unbiblical views of liberty, and they all wanted or practiced draconian immoral policies of theft and confiscation during Covid! State and local candidates are just as flawed, and even professing Christians rarely or never mention the name of Jesus while legislating. Most don’t believe the faith has anything to do with ruling.

So what’s the faithful Christian to do? How do you keep from going mad, or getting anxious about the direction of the country? After all, the pundits tell us, this is the most important election since 1776! Hmmm, have I heard that before?

So how about some encouraging words from Jesus!

Proverbs 3.5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him…”

Matthew 6.33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…”

Isaiah 40.27-31: (…but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength….they shall walk and not faint.”

Pastor Thacker preached on Exodus 23:10-19 last Sunday, and it is a timely passage. We are entering that Festive time of year where we have Thanksgiving, All Saints Day, Advent, Christmas, New Years Day, etc. Mixed in with all those days are usually plenty of extended family and friends get togethers. So what practical wisdom we can glean from Exodus 23 on observing the season?

First, the whole passage is about rest in some manner or other. We don’t have sabbath years in the New Covenant, but in both that section and the following weekly section, there is admonition to rest. Not only for ourselves, but for those under us or that we influence: your land, the poor, wild beasts, vineyards and orchards, work animals, the son of your servant, and the alien. They all should have some time to “be refreshed” (vs.12). So are you making sure you, and those whom you influence, will be getting some time of rest and refreshment? Do you look for opportunities to give rest and refreshment? Usually we only think of our immediate family, but some fellow Christians have applied this to their workforce, such as Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby!

Second, rest also means not being involved in the worship of false gods. Can you think of any false gods prevalent this time of year to watch out for?

Third, part of resting is feasting. So it would be good to make sure those working behind the scenes, wife, children, etc., have plenty of rest as well.

Fourth, we should offer the best of our hand to the Lord, just as they brought the best of the first fruits. So make sure you, your wife, your children, those visiting you, get plenty of rest Friday and Saturday night so they are rested and primed to offer their best on Sunday morning!

The very first words in recorded Biblical history were spoken by God. “Then God said, “Let there be light.”

God spoke the world into existence. God’s word carries power. God speaks, and things come into being. God rules creation by the power of His word.

Now consider that man was made in the image of God. There are many aspects to that image bearing, but one of them is certainly that we have the power and ability to affect our world by what we say. We have the ability to build up or tear down. To some extent we also speak a reality into existence.

Adam, following after God, rules over the creation by speaking the name of each animal. He also speaks the name of the first Woman, given to Him by God.

But Adam then fails to rule and exercise the power of his word. He stood by silently while the serpent spoke deceitful words. He failed to exercise the authority given to Him by God by not exercising the tongue He was given.

In the epistle reading of James 3:1–12 this morning, James warns us about the nature of the sinful tongue. The tongue can spew forth powerful poison, which stands to reason since words are very powerful. And what’s more, as no part of humanity was untouched by the fall, our tongue, our words are certainly very affected by man’s sinful nature. James says, “the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity… With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men… My brethren, these things ought not to be so.”

The exhortation from James is clear: Do not be as the first Adam. Be sure to exercise the power of your tongue righteously. Make sure the spring of your mouth brings forth fresh water, and not bitter water.

In the sixth seal of Revelation 6, there are several “cosmic” events that modern Christians have often used mistakenly to get more zing and sensationalism out of the passage, which helps to sell books about the end times or the Antichrist, etc. These writers think these events are future “end times” because they happen on the earth (instead of on the land of Israel before 70 AD). But are they interpreting these events biblically, comparing scripture with scripture? No, they aren’t.

The sun becoming black as sackcloth, the full moon becoming like blood, the stars of the sky falling to the land like figs being shaken off the tree, the sky being rolled up like a scroll, are well-attested symbols of the fall of political/national structures in the scriptures, symbols that demonstrate God’s judgmental wrath against those political/national entities. In fact, all four of the above mentioned cosmic symbols are attested in just four verses in Isaiah: 13:1, 10 and 34:1, 4.

Isaiah 13:1, 10: “The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw…For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.”

Isaiah 34:1, 4: “Draw near, O nations, to hear, and give attention, O peoples!…all the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll, all their host shall fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree.”

See also Ezekiel 32:7 regarding Egypt, and Joel 2:31 against Israel. And also see Matt 24:29, Mark 13:24-25, and Luke 21:25 where Jesus predicts what is happening in Revelation 6!

Following up on the sermon from August 25.

There are a couple of additional observations to make from Revelation 6 if it is true that the horses are the church and Jesus is the rider in the first four seals.

First, Jesus is our strong leader. Being a conqueror, he goes out to conquer with the gospel, and he is not unwilling to divide families and loyalties that stand against him. He is not afraid to lead his people, as a Lamb, out of the wicked land to where the oil and wine are found plenteous, and he is not unwilling to punish the wicked with death or bring down their rebellious lands with his strong power. He is not afraid to exercise wrath where needed. That’s the Lord, the Lamb, that we worship and adore and place our trust in. Let’s keep these images front and center.

Secondly, if the church is the horse under Jesus, then we should rejoice concerning the role that we play in the advancement of his kingdom. We are his steed of conquest! We are the means used to advance what he is doing in the world, not only back then in the early church but even today. We are all baptized into the Pentecostal church, and we are all given the Spirit at our baptism, and we are all agents of his Great Commission. Even our babies are involved; out of their mouths comes strength to still the enemy and their wicked vengeance (Psalm 8:2).

Thirdly, the four living creatures/cherubim, as each speaks, reminds us that there is a progression in history, a God-directed maturity for us as individuals and the church: from priest, to king, to prophet, to perfect man in Christ. May we always strive to move from glory to glory!

Psalm 33 is such a delightful Psalm to read and be encouraged by. Not only because it encourages you to shout for joy in the Lord, or to praise and give him thanks or to make melody to him or sing to him a new song, etc., but because it’s such a simple but powerful antidote to all the evolutionary junk we are constantly inundated with in our day! The unbelievers have an agenda, and it is to shove their godless, meaningless, and immoral beliefs down our throats, and those of your children, by ignoring the Lord and his ways.

How do they do this? In terms of the weather, they always ascribe hurricanes or tornadoes or heavy rains or flooding to “mother nature” or “forces of nature” or “climate change (as though that has a brain of itself!)” or something else. Of course, those who hate God don’t want to ascribe to him creation as his handiwork or they’ll be bound to worship him!

Psalm 33 puts us aright: “By the word of Yahweh the heavens were made; and by the breath [Spirit] of his mouth all their host… For he spoke [Word], and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.” (see Psalm 29 for God’s powerful voice).

No “mother nature” or “forces of nature;” that depersonalizes and evolutionizes the glory of the Lord. Nope: Just the Lord, our Lord!

This is how you should talk, and how you teach your children to think of the world: it is God’s creation; he made it. “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” (Hebrews 11:3).

Continuing last week’s theme..

Doug Wilson subtitled his men’s book Fidelity “What it Means to Be a One-Woman Man.” That’s a great subtitle because it puts the responsibility for faithfulness squarely on the shoulders of men, and rightly so, because men lead, and wives respond to husbands. Men look to their calling out in the land, and wives look to their husbands as his helpmeet (Genesis 2; Proverbs 31). But when men look out into the world to exercise dominion, it is not license to look at other men’s wives. That’s what his book is all about: all the sins and lusts and deviancies that must concretely and purposely be avoided by Christian men as they live and work in the world and lead their wives in purity.

Men are lookers; that’s how God made them. To look for the task, arrange to do it, and then get it done. And in doing so, they will see other women who are loose morally or are beautiful. The loose ones they should detest and thank the Lord their wives are faithful and pure; the beautiful ones they should note as beautiful, praise God they are beautiful, and say a prayer for the husband that has her or will as his wife. There is nothing wrong with noticing truth, goodness, and beauty, even in women by men other than her husband. But that woman’s total beauty is never as deep and lasting as that shared with his wife; she is his own, intimate, and covenantally beautiful woman. He is only intoxicated with her love (Proverbs 5:19). Sons and daughters should see this easily as it emanates from dad.