Tag: worship

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Theology Worship

Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience

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From a teaching series on Worship, this lesson explored the notions of Sphere Sovereignty and the limits of authority that God has placed upon certain institutions. It then explored the notion of Liberty of Conscience and how it affects our understanding of corporate Worship.

The lesson notes can be downloaded here: Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XX
Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience

I. The liberty which Christ hath purchased for believers under the gospel consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the curse of the moral law;[1] and, in their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin;[2] from the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation;[3] as also, in their free access to God,[4] and their yielding obedience unto him, not out of slavish fear, but a childlike love and willing mind.[5] All which were common also to believers under the law.[6] But, under the new testament, the liberty of Christians is further enlarged, in their freedom from the yoke of the ceremonial law, to which the Jewish church was subjected;[7] and in greater boldness of access to the throne of grace,[8] and in fuller communications of the free Spirit of God, than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of.[9]

1. Titus 2:14; I Thess. 1:10; Gal. 3:13
2. Gal. 1:4; Col. 1:13; Acts 26:18; Rom. 6:14
3. Rom. 8:28; Psa. 119:71; II Cor. 4:15-18; I Cor. 15:54-57; Rom. 5:9; 8:1; I Thess. 1:10
4. Rom. 5:1-2
5. Rom. 8:14-15; Gal. 4:6; I John 4:18
6. Gal. 3:8-9, 14; Rom. 4:6-8; I Cor. 10:3-4; Heb. 11:1-40
7. Gal. 4:1-7; 5:1; Acts 15:10-11
8. Heb. 4:14-16; 10:19-22
9. John 7:38-39; Acts 2:17-18; II Cor. 3:8, 13, 17-18; Jer. 31:31-34

II. God alone is Lord of the conscience,[10] and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in anything, contrary to his Word; or beside it, if matters of faith, or worship.[11] So that, to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commands, out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience:[12] and the requiring of an implicit faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also.[13]

10. James 4:12; Rom. 14:4, 10; I Cor. 10:29
11. Acts 4:19, 5:29; I Cor. 7:22-23; Matt. 15:1-6, 9; 23:8-10; II Cor. 1:24
12. Col. 2:20-23; Gal. 1:10; 2:4-5; 4:9-10; 5:1
13. Rom. 10:17; Isa. 8:20; Acts 17:11; John 4:22; Rev. 13:12, 16-17; Jer. 8:9; I Peter 3:15

III. They who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, do practice any sin, or cherish any lust, do thereby destroy the end of Christian liberty, which is, that being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.[14]

14. Gal. 5:13; I Peter 2:16; II Peter 2:19; Rom. 6:15; John 8:34; Luke 1:74-75

IV. And because the powers which God hath ordained, and the liberty which Christ hath purchased, are not intended by God to destroy, but mutually to uphold and preserve one another, they who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful power, or the lawful exercise of it, whether it be civil or ecclesiastical, resist the ordinance of God.[15] And, for their publishing of such opinions, or maintaining of such practices, as are contrary to the light of nature, or to the known principles of Christianity (whether concerning faith, worship, or conversation), or to the power of godliness; or, such erroneous opinions or practices, as either in their own nature, or in the manner of publishing or maintaining them, are destructive to the external peace and order which Christ hath established in the church, they may lawfully be called to account, and proceeded against, by the censures of the church.[16]

15. I Peter 2:13-14, 16; Rom. 13:1-8; Heb. 13:17; I Thess. 5:12-13
16. Rom. 1:32; 16:17; I Cor. 5:1, 5, 11-13; II John 1:10-11; II Thess. 3:6, 14; I Tim. 1:19-20; 6:3-4; Titus 1:10-11, 13-14; 3:10; Matt. 18:15-17; Rev. 2:2, 14-15, 20

Things to consider:

What is the difference between a scruple and something in the Law of God?

How do we handle those whose scruples are more strict than our own?

How do we handle those whose scruples are less strict than our own?

Do the Elders of the Church have the right to decide what is right for worship and everyone just needs to go along?

What if everybody in a Church is fine with something in worship but an element of worship troubles the conscience of a single individual?

Categories
Entertainment and Recreation

Mel’s Misplaced Passion (2 of 3)

There’s Always a Negative Side!

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God” (Ex. 20:4, 5, NKJV)

This commandment, as all commandments (see Larger Catechism Q99), suggests more than a mere surface reading would indicate. Just as the sixth commandment demands not merely avoidance of murder but also the preservation of life, so, too, this ordinance of God demands more than avoidance of idols. There is both a negative and positive side of this law.

The first and most conclusive point is that this commandment forbids any likeness of God””that is of God Triune (God is one), and of God in His several persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Each is God and none may be depicted with man-made images. Even pictures of Jesus are only a “half-Christ” since it only shows His humanity and incorrectly at that (did He really have blond hair and blue eyes?). Also, Turretin correctly points out that this law is two-fold: no images and no worshipping of them. It is not simply a prohibition against images if they are worshipped: neither idols nor false worship is accepted. Exodus 32:4ff. states that Israel made the golden calf to represent Yahweh””yet as Aaron said after the image was made, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” It was not worshipping false gods, but worshipping the True God falsely! God reminds them later that they saw no “form” of the Lord when He spoke at Mt. Sinai, spending several sentences emphatically denouncing any form, likeness or image of God (Deut. 4:15ff.), and this without any reference to worship. The simple making of an image of Yahweh was, and still is, wrong.

Thus our spiritual forefathers clearly wrote the Confessions against images for worship or teaching (Heidelberg Catechism, 96-98; WLC 109):

“Q98: But may not pictures be tolerated in churches as books for the people?

A98: No, for we should not be wiser than God, who will not have His people taught by dumb idols, but by the lively preaching of His Word.”

The nature of worship also argues against the making of images to supplant the Word (written, preached or taught). Worship is to give proper and due homage to God in thought, word and deed. Worship has two dimensions. The first occurs in weekly public worship; the second occurs in the life of a believer. The Bible, the Word of God, regulates both. This commandment is the foundation for both. Many in the Evangelical circles know this because they will not allow a statue of Christ to enter their houses for family worship. Why? Because they instinctively know that worship is not merely bowing before an idol (who does that in our “enlightened” age?), but also involves the heart.

Worship is to have a high, proper, holy and correct view of our Lord. Yet, cannot these images (pictures, movies, etc.) be used to stir up “pious feelings” or help us to have better, holy thoughts of God? The Roman Catholic Thomas Aquinas and the Lutherans argued such. In contrast, Turretin incisively argues that these uses are still worship indirectly considered because “the sight of them [help] conceive of holy thoughts concerning God and Christ (which cannot but belong to the worship of God, so that thus they really worship God”¦).” That is, maintaining that these images stir religious feelings is to admit that they stir up worship in our hearts; thus, directly relating their argument to the second commandment. Images clearly impact our thoughts of God and our worship at church and at home.

Let’s Look At The Bright Side

The second and no less significant side of the second commandment is the primacy of the Word. One of the main motifs of Scripture is the Word uttered and written”””Oh, how I love Your Word.” This, then, means that there is a more powerful motive for avoiding images of God: the promises of His Gospel. And these promises are not presented to the covenant community through pictures or images, but through the living Word read and preached.

It is not as though the Reformed faith is comprised of sour-faced, unloving and negative old men. On the contrary, it is and should be a vibrant faith that expresses its trust in God through loving obedience. And that obedience is expressed every Sunday. It is expressed by listening to the preached Word.

“And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:14-17).

This is the promise of God’s Gospel: He will not leave us ignorant of His salvation but will present it to us through the preached Word. Yes, even the Word read daily is a source of strength (Psalm 119). Since the center of our lives is Christ and His Word (for can we really know of Christ apart from the Spirit and the Bible?), should this not emanate through the rest of our lives? Does the heart pump blood only for itself or does it send life throughout the rest of the body? That is how Christ through the Bible is the center of our lives.

The positive side of the second commandment is further illustrated by the history of redemption. God spoke creation into existence; God spoke judgment and salvation to Adam and Eve; God spoke and Noah believed; God spoke and Abraham followed; God spoke His will to Moses, as the great prophet of the Old Testament, and spoke it to all subsequent prophets. Miracles did occur; visual surprises did arise; but these symbols were never suspended in the air, they were explained by the Word. But there is more. The spoken Word, however powerful, was still not enough: God inscripturated His spoken Word. The Old Testament was as a child under age (Gal. 4:1ff.), but we have been privileged to live even beyond that age when the Bible was still incomplete. As even children today first learn through pictures and concrete items and then grow into adulthood””words and abstract thoughts””so the Israelites of old were given many visual signs. But in the New Age these have been vastly reduced to two: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Since God is merciful and knows our frailties, He has given us these visible signs and seals for our infirmities and weakness. Yet, these sacraments are useless without the preached Word. There must still be a passion for the Word. 1 Cor. 1:21 summarizes this truth:

“For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” Amen.

Hopefully, it has been established that the Bible presents a definite view in favor of words in general and the Word in particular. But how does this apply to the here and now? There are obvious applications: both positive and negative. We should be ever conscious of the moral ramifications of what we watch.

The Word of God at home and at Church should be renewing us day by day”¦

Categories
Cults and World Religions

We Don’t Worship God as Slaves

Doug Wrote

On my way to Church Sunday and as I routinely do on my cart, I cut through the parking lot of the local RCC and I had a thought after see the multitudes of cars. They go to mass because hey have to to avoid hell they think, we go because we want too.

Anyway that’s what I was thinking in my little mind.

As one who grew up Roman Catholic, that is a very good observation. They even call Holy Days “Days of Obligation”.

They approach worship as a slave would.

Now, granted, a few of them are happy slaves and, existentially, they are looking forward to going to Mass but it is as a happy slave, along with the vast majority in the RCC that are miserable slaves who know they’ll go to Hell if they don’t at least “punch in” on Christmas and Easter. Every employer has their 10% of really motivated servants.

But, in the best case scenario, the Roman Catholic is coming to worship God as the Prodigal Son had in mind: “It’s better to be a slave in my Father’s house….” What I discovered last year was something profound. The Father would not accept the Prodigal Son back as a slave but only as a son.

As Peter reminds us in 2 Peter 1:1-4, we’ve been given everything in Christ and our inheritance has been secured by Him. Thus, we don’t come even as happy slaves trying to earn the good that God is doing for us in our worship and service to Him. That’s the Pharisee, the elder brother. The Prodigal Son was not going to be the happy slave compared to the dutiful but miserable slave that his elder brother thought Himself to be.

No! The younger son was inside, in the light, rejoicing with His Father and the household. He hadn’t earned any of it. He couldn’t claim any of it. The Father had given to the son an inheritance he had no claim to. Sheer grace and love lavished for nothing good in him.

We enter into worship as adopted sons and not as slaves!

Categories
Worship

Why the Regulative Principle of Worship?

The Regulative Principle of Worship (RPW) simply defined is this: Whatever God has not specifically commanded in worship is forbidden.

The Old Testament is full of either implicit or explicit condemnation of Judah and the Israelites on the basis of false worship. It is the fundamental reason for their downfall. In fact, if you read the 1st Chapter of Romans you can see that man either worships God as He is and is thankful to Him as Creator or he turns to idolatry. Idolatry leads to a “giving over” to folly, which, in turn, leads to depraved actions – a downward spiral of unrighteousness. But it all begins with false worship.

To ask “Where has God told us not to worship Him except as He has commanded?” Try Exodus and Leviticus for starters. Implicit in the details is a reflection of the fact that God expects to be approached a certain way and that sacrifices before Him will be conducted a certain way.

Why not simply broad brush the whole thing and specify that animals are to be killed, Priests appointed, etc? For one thing, it ties back to the nature of man as outlined in Romans 1. The idolatry of man is such that, even with such detailed commands, man invents ways to even goon up specific commands.

Read 1st and 2nd Kings. What is the sin of Jeroboam? For political pragmatism, he sets the nation of Israel on a course of idolatry that they never turn from.

Read Jeremiah. It’s filled with references that state: “…which I had not commanded nor did it come into my mind….” Idolatry is not simply something God has forbidden but is referred to as something which He has not commanded.

Read the whole book of Amos. Understanding how they are worshipping (after reading 1st and 2nd Kings) sheds light on why they’re being condemned. It’s like Romans 1 being lived out in the Northern Kingdom. Idolatry and social injustice are simply two sides of the same coin. People were actually stricter in their religious observances than the Law required. The only problem is that they weren’t at the Temple.

In fact, as I was teaching Amos recently I realized that two men looking at the Southern and Northern Kingdoms and watching two worshippers from North and South would have been hard pressed to tell the difference. If I’m Joe the Ephraimite and grew up worshipping at Bethel, my worship externally looked precisely the same as Harold the Benjamite who’s bringing his sacrifice to the Temple in Jerusalem. Perhaps the same Words were being spoken as they place my hands on the sacrifice. Perhaps they were both scrupulous about the Sabbath. The only thing that separated them was geography. Post-modern man would scoff at any notion that they’re any different on such a basis.

But God commanded worship at His sanctuary and not at the high places.

It’s pretty hard, in the end, to separate God’s prescriptions for worship from His prohibitions against the way man commits idolatry.

Why?

Because of the sinfulness of the human heart. If we’re not getting our ideas on how to worship God from Him in His Word then Romans 1 declares that our natural inclination is to invent idolatrous ways to do so.

Categories
Polity The Church

Presbytery 2007

Mrs. Sulzmann and I had the pleasure of attending the annual stated meeting and family conference of the presbytery of the Presbyterian Reformed Church. The event was held from Tuesday June 5 through Sunday June 10.

Our congregation hosted Presbytery this year at Ridgecrest, NC near Asheville. Every congregation was represented, and we were able to reconnect with brothers and sisters from Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Indiana, Iowa, Ontario and England.

It was good to see everyone who came. New people showed up every day. Most of the "locals" (our congregation) turned out for the weekend to take in some of the activities plus the nightly family-worship, Psalm singing and the Friday night talent show.

On our way up Tuesday we stopped at Chimney Rock and enjoyed the breathtaking view from 2240 ft. I hiked as far as "Exclamation Point" and decided against going to the falls when I found out how long the hike would take. I had had to leave Mrs. Sulzmann to rest back at the rock area due to her condition.

A hammer-dulcimer player from Shelby, NC stationed near the gift shop entertained passers-by. We loved his music so much we bought one of his CD's. We'd love to have spent more time at Chimney Rock but we wanted to arrive at the conference center in plenty of time to unpack, settle, eat, and attend the evening corporate worship.

Rev. Mohon, the outgoing moderator, preached the sermon Tuesday night. We sang Psalm 2 and Psalm 45:1-7. That service, and most of the week it was a very humbling experience to be the host precentor for the praise with all these brothers and sisters from our various congregations singing Psalms. The singing was awesome and I felt very encouraged because everyone was so supportive.

Mrs. Sulzmann and I attended those deliberations of the presbytery that are open to the public. For the opening on the morning of the 6th, the praise was to be from Psalm 84. The resident precentor for these presbytery meetings is an elder from our Des Moines, IA congregation who was unable to attend. After I few seconds pause I started humming the tune University because that is the tune to which our congregation sings Psalm 84. This was agreeable to the presbyters and we sang the praise. I got to do the precenting again on Thursday from Psalm 48 for the session that would wrap up the business of presbytery. These two incidents of leading praise were a very, very special privilege to me because I am not even an elder.

The fellowship at these events is very unique because we reunite with friends from the other congregations and there are always new people to meet and get to know.

The nightly family-worship was always a special time. We heard from the ministers of the various congregations. The presbyters decided on a series from Paul's epistle to the Colossians 3 and part of 4. This culminated in the Sabbath Christian education hour, the morning service and the afternoon service.

In the family-worship we heard from Rev. Douglas Gebbie of the Chesley, ON congregation, Rev. Steven Dilday from Northern VA, and Rev. Mohon from England. We sang and opening Psalm and a closing Psalm, then it was opened up for people to request 2-3 favorites. I found myself with a couple of challenges with tunes that I hadn't practiced in a long time. I also had to make some adjustments here and there because the Psalm book has certain beloved tunes that have to be transposed down a half step or even a full step to avoid hitting E or E-flat which challenges some people.

There were some planned side trips, and others happened. We went with the group to the state Arboretum near Asheville and enjoyed a hike to view the flora that are native to the area. After the hike we ate our box lunches under some shade trees. It got very hot that afternoon so we pretty much bagged it after lunch and returned to the conference center.

Friday's planned trip was really awesome: whitewater rafting. We had to sign up for that way ahead of time like when we were sending in our registrations to attend the conference. This included a carefully-worded release form! It took Yours Truly like three days to decide whether to do it or not. My wife had an easy decision because she cannot do those things any more. I finally figured, hey, who knows, this might be the only time I ever get to go whitewater rafting. Well, I ended up with the honor of being the oldest person on the trip. And I had a ball!

One thing that was kind of frustrating was the meals. The food itself was great, and there was plenty of it. Except for one meal when they had 500 people they weren't expecting and they ran out of food. I think Mrs. Sulzmann and I got maybe like five meals in all the whole time where we got to sit with people from our group. I mean, our timing seemed to be off. Plus there were so many others in the dining hall at the same time from all the other conferences that it was hard to spot our people among them.

Friday night we learned many of our people had natural talents we never knew they had. There were some good songs, instrumental pieces and a skit. Most memorable to this writer was Miss Sarah Marshall's recital of the Mozart K 265, 12 Variations in C major on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman", played from memory.

We did some hiking on our own Saturday morning and then chilled that afternoon. I think that helped us with the Sabbath preparation.

We had some other special times like one night we went out with another couple from our congregation to a restaurant instead of eating in the mess hall and then some other special extended times with people we wanted to get to know better.

It was neat to see our children, teenagers and college age people spending a lot of time with one another and enjoying it. And our resident "presbytery historian" always brings the scrapbooks of the photos from past Presbyteries with the artwork and captions so beautfully done. It's nice to be able to review these and see what people did and how everybody's changed from year to year.

I mentioned the Lord's Day services above. They were wonderful. One thing that is always a challenge to me as a precentor is to be able to lead the praise and worship at the same time. In general the singing at those services was so exceptional that I felt like I didn't have to do anything. I will never forget the last Psalm on Sunday morning, 112:1-6 to the tune Gräfenberg. I had a special sense of being free. I was worshipping and the only difference was that I was up in front of the congregation facing the rest of them, Rev. Ericson from Des Moines behind me in the pulpit. We were in union with Christ, in communion with one another, and we worshipped. To me that is the ultimate fellowship, short of heaven.

Our own minister Rev. Worrell of the Charlotte, NC congregation preached in the afternoon. He is the moderator of the Presbytery for this year now. It was a grand service ending appropriately with our missionary Psalm 67 to the tune Zenka.

Sunday evening we had the ultimate Psalm sing. All of us who are precentors in the various congregations had to select Psalms that we know to be special in our respective local bodies and then take turns up front precenting. In many cases we found ourselves learning new tunes or singing familiar tunes to a different musical arrangement due to variances among Psalm books that are currently in use. I ended up "pinch hitting" for Northern VA as well as doing Charlotte. I am grateful especially for those who worked hard to learn to sing Psalm 145:1-7 to the tune Doversdale. That tune is in The Scottish Psalmody but not in The Psalms in Metre. It is a lovely tune, but I think I underestimated the inherent challenges a bit!

The Stockton-on-Tees (England) congregation sent goodies over with the Mohon's to treat us Sunday night for our last fellowship gathering. There's something special about those English candies, like the Cadbury chocolate for example. We all made short work of what was provided. As is typical we are always wanting to prolong these visits, so reluctant to break fellowship as we know that many of use will not see one another in person for at least a year.

I hung out but I finally had to crash. Mrs. Sulzmann was already in bed by the time I got up to the room. We left around 5:45 in the morning, stopped for breakfast on the way, stopped at my office in uptown Charlotte to grab the work laptop because my first day back is an offsite training meeting and then finally picked up the dog at the kennel.

We got home and of course it hadn't rained all week. My favorite pineapple sage was in shock for lack of water. Mrs. Sulzmann did the unloading while I started hauling buckets to the garden and hand-watering the thirsty plants. That being done we ended up recuperating for the rest of the day.

And that was a presbytery. 

Categories
Law

The Lord Will Provide

The Lord Will Provide –

Pictue by Gustav Doré And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. – Genesis 22:7-8

Abraham, at this point, has already been counted righteous by his faith (Gen 15:6), so we know he had strong faith. It is again exemplified here in this foreshadowing of Christ’s precious sacrifice. Abraham, his “only son” Isaac, and some servants have been travelling for a few days and the Scripture recounts Abraham telling his servants this (Gen 22:5): Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.

Now, keep in mind, the Lord has already commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son, the one through which Abraham’s offspring would be named. So, you may be wondering, “What’s going through Abraham’s mind right now? How could he, without doubt, without questioning, and without hesitation just up and go and do this?” By faith! By trust! By belief in the inherent goodness of God and His devotion to His own glory.

You see, Abraham could tell the servants with confidence that both he and Isaac would be back (v5), though God had commanded Abraham to kill Isaac. So, one of two things was going to happen in the mind of Abraham. Either, 1) Isaac was going to be sacrificed, burned, but then somehow restored by the Lord, or 2) God would provide a substitute. Either way, God would fulfill His covenant obligation to Abraham, and Abraham believed it! That’s great faith, folks!

You know, when I used to read this account I pictured a somber, grieving Abraham, moping along with Isaac, on their way to Mt. Moriah. But now, more and more, I don’t know if such was the case. I think Abraham knew, by faith, that God is a covenant keeping God, and that, somehow, Isaac would be spared. He’d have to be spared in order for what was told him in Gensis 15:6 to be true. Somehow, Abraham knew God would come through and be Faithful.

O, that we would have the faith of an Abraham! We have God’s promises in Scripture, yet we doubt so much! We must, despite all outward circumstances, or inner feelings, or “uncontestable evidences”, we must believe God’s promises and that He will accomplish them regardless of what we think, see, or “know”. You see, no one, no thing, can thwart His plan, stay His hand, catch Him by surprise, sneak up on Him, or even begin to be familiar with Him. He is the everlasting God Who is forever to be praised. He is the Lord. That is His Name. His glory He gives to no other, and He shares not His praise with idols (Is 42:8). Blessed be the Lord God Almighty, for Almighty He truly is! HE WILL PROVIDE.

 

 

[Reformers, Puritans, and a Geek]

Categories
Devotion

The Pontiff of Humanity

from my blog Board Housewife & The Cat

“The Pontiff of Humanity”

Advisory: Scary content.

The Cat enjoys scaring his friend Zack. He has urged me, therefore, to write about Positivism’s arch scion, Auguste Comte, about whom we were just reading in Dabney. Comte had the modest aspiration of becoming “Pontiff of Humanity.”

Ideas that reject sources of knowledge can get very weird, and Comte quite possibly attained the zenith of weirdness. If we owe our ideas to no sources of knowledge outside of our own experience of phenomena, we tend to become a bit obsessed with ourselves. Thus, atheism is the predictable logical consequence of positivism.

Positivism denies the supernatural, even in light of the evidence of supernatural facts. Thus, the documented miracles that Christ performed on earth before thousands of witnesses would be denied or explained naturally–an impossibility untroubling to a positivist mind.

The cosmological implication of this is, or should be, terribly frightening: self-existence without God. As Dabney puts it so well, “Thus, matter is clothed with the attributes of God” (Robert L. Dabney: The Sensualistic Philosophy, Naphtali Books, 2003, p. 81).

Comte, who lived from 1798 to 1857, was certainly not the first person to attempt to recreate God; nor was he original in his attempt to introduce worship of himself. However, there is a certain novelty to his approach of denying the existence of any god, while introducing a religious system of worship with himself as the center, and expecting liberty-enjoying people to go along with it.

To the psychotic Comte, a religion without God was a reasonable concept. His religion included the necessary element of worshipers. To ensure a prodigious number of them, he devised a congregation known as the “Great Being,” consisting of all humanity, living, dead, and those who will live. Evidently hip to the utility of liturgical worship principles, Comte devised a system of worship with 84 holy days in a year and nine sacraments (p. 83).

Comte’s system was to consist of a “spiritual order” of positivist philosophers and educators (reminiscent of Plato’s philosopher kings, but in Plato’s gnostic model, at least knowledge was understood to come from without the visible world). These people would be presumed infallible and defiance of their dicta would not be tolerated. Above the oligarchy would be the Pontiff of Humanity, with Comte, of course, to be the first to hold this office. The Pontiff, imbued with unsurpassed wisdom, would select his own successor.

Comte had a plan for the United States of America, wherein three bankers were to govern each of the States. The spiritual order would be absolute in its authority, and its authority would be absolute in its sphere of human control–social, spiritual, educational, and, economic.

Comte suffered from manic depression in addition to his obvious megalomania, and was rescued in the course of several suicide attempts. But consider the burden under which he labored–the pressure of ruling every soul that ever lived, did live, and ever would live–equipped only with the laws of nature directly sensible to him. No wonder he held such a hopeless, fatalistic world view, holding “intellectual skepticism as the most advantageous state of mind” (Dabney, p. 84). The irony was likely lost on him that he could not even trust the validity of his own “infallible” ideas.

Unchallenged deference to experts because they are experts, regardless of competence, is a current manifestation of Comte’s positivist world view. I would submit that Comte’s view is not extreme, but rather the logical outcome of positivism, and that it exists around us more than makes us comfortable to think.

Dabney said this in the 19th century, and it is as true in our day as it was in his: Positivism’s “most deplorable result is the impulse which it gives to irreligion and open atheism. Thousands of shallow persons, who have no understanding of any connected philosophy, and are too indolent and inattentive to acquire it, are emboldened to babble materialism and impiety, by hearing it said that the “˜positive philosophy’ has exploded the supernatural” (Dabney, p. 85).

Adherence to positivism and its sequelae is shallow and uncomplicated; it is a giving over to a reprobate mind. Paul presaged the philosophy long before Dabney warned America: “for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator…” Ro 1:25. “And even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting…” Ro 1:28.

Positivists would profess that their philosophy advocates nothing specifically immoral, that nature itself is sufficient revelation of proper moral conduct. Whose nature–Auguste Comte’s? Their scheme forecloses any moral source outside of nature and sensibility; therefore, how can morality be known? But this is a rude question to ask an all-knowing Pontiff of Humanity.

Categories
Gospels and Acts

Unclean!

Luke 17:11-19

Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.  Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.  And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God,  and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.
So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?   Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”  And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

And so we come to an event in Jesus’ ministry as He is on His way to Jerusalem.  Luke mentions, in passing that Jesus is passing between Galilee and Samaria.

Samaria was considered an unclean region for Jews.  They viewed the Samaritans as dogs, as unclean people.  The Samaritans were related to the Jews as the Northern Kingdom of Israel had existed there.  But the Northern Kingdom had passed away centuries before due to the idolatry of that nation.  The Samaritans had intermarried with the pagan nations and had only retained a perverted form of the religion of the Scriptures.  They worshipped in the high places in the North and not in Jerusalem as commanded nor did they offer sacrifices in Jerusalem.  And so, many Jews would walk completely around Samaria if they ever had to venture outside of Judea.  They would rather go days out of their way by foot then even touch the unclean soil of Samaria.

And so it is in passing that Luke mentions that Christ is passing near that region on His way to Jerusalem.

As Christ is entering a village He encounters ten lepers who stood afar off.

Why did they stand afar off? Why did Luke mention that Christ encountered them outside of the town? Let us turn to Leviticus Chapter 13.

I will not read the entirety of Leviticus 13 but it gives several different examples and rules for the Priests to use to determine whether not a person has leprosy. Leprosy is a term to refer to different types of skin diseases, the worst of which would cause hands, legs, nose, and other body parts to wither as the person became increasingly disfigured until they eventually died a horrific death. Whether a milder form of the disease, Leviticus 13 gives many examples of how to diagnose and the end result is the same in all cases for the leper. Let me read for you the concluding verses in Leviticus 13:45-46
Lev 13:45-46

Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry,’Unclean! Unclean!’  He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.

Have any of you ever had friends who have found a spot on the skin and gone to the doctor who grows concerned about it?  The person has to come back after a number of days to have a biopsy performed on the spot and even wait further as lab results reveal whether or not that person has cancer.  What concern we all have for the person as we wonder:  “Does my dear friend have cancer.”  What prayers might we lift up for that person as they undergo treatment and receive the blessings of modern medicine.  We may even embrace that friend and let them cry on our shoulder as they express their fear that the cancer might spread.

Beloved, a leprous man could only be so lucky to merely get a diagnosis of cancer.  Consider Levticus 5:2-5

“…if a person touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and he is unaware of it, he also shall be unclean and guilty.  Or if he touches human uncleanness — whatever uncleanness with which a man may be defiled, and he is unaware of it — when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty.
‘Or if a person swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, whatever it is that a man may pronounce by an oath, and he is unaware of it — when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty in any of these matters.
‘And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing;”

Do you understand the implications for leprosy?  A leper was considered human uncleanness.  You could not hug a leper who received a diagnosis from the priest.  You could not even touch him or her.  That was a sin.  If you did so, even by accident, you had to confess your sin and offer a sacrifice at the Temple.  I don’t mean to state the obvious here but lepers were human beings too.  They had mothers and fathers, they had wives and children at one point.  Then one morning they wake up and find a spot on their skin.  They try washing it but, over days and weeks the spot doesn’t seem to go away.  What fear they must have experienced as they walked to the priest.  Can you even imagine the horrible words of the priest as he says to a man or a woman:  YOU HAVE LEPROSY.  YOU ARE UNCLEAN.

Oh the horror of it.  I cannot weep with my wife.  I cannot hold my children.  I cannot embrace a friend and cry on his shoulder.  Even worse, according to the Law he must stay outside of town and every time a person comes near him he must yell out “Unclean!”  I cannot even imagine such a horrible condition.

And so it is with people in misery that the unclean gather together as lepers would into colonies and Christ meets ten of them on His way to Jerusalem.  We understand all the more now why in Luke 17:12, why the lepers are afar off.  We should also appreciate why in verse 13 there is anguish in their voice as they cry:  “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”

And Christ, the one who came to give Mercy, told them to present themselves to the priest.  A very strange command is it not?  Not so strange and I again commend to you the Study of God’s Word.  You see in Leviticus 14, it gives the instructions for the cleansing of healed lepers.  The ceremony is very elaborate and requires the sacrifice of doves and washings and, after a week, the leper may be pronounced clean by the Priest and rejoin his family.  This was unfortunately, very rare, and the OT only records a couple of miraculous healings of leprosy in the Old Testament.

So the lepers are obeying this command and, on their way, shortly after leaving, they realize they are cleansed.  Perhaps some of them had withered hands restored.  Christ’s healing was always so powerful in Scriptures that people knew, without a doubt, they had been healed.

What joy!  What a blessing!  I am cleansed!  Years of pain.  Years of private suffering.  Years of reproach calling out to passersby:  “Unclean!”  No more pain of seeing little children run from you afraid.  I will see my family again!  I’ll embrace my wife.  I will hold my child!

And so, as dutiful Jews, 9 of the 10 continue on their way to the Priest to obey the requirements of the Law and be pronounced clean.   But they don’t all continue on their way.

No.  One man,  A SAMARITAN, returns in a loud voice, glorifying God.  Not only that, He falls down at Jesus’ feet in worship of Him, thanking Him for healing Him.  He thanks Him for delivering Him from His leprosy.

But we have a problem here don’t we?  The problem is that this man has not undergone the cleansing rite specified by the Law.  Leviticus 14:9 makes it very clear that one must undergo the full ritual cleansing, wait a week, shave off all their hair all over their body and then they will be pronounced clean by the priest.  This man has not been pronounced clean and so, according to the Law, he is very much UNCLEAN.  Add to that, he is a Samaritan, a dog, a person from an unclean land.

THIS MAN IS TOUCHING JESUS!

Beloved, this is powerful stuff.  You see, a normal Jew could not touch an unclean thing and remain undefiled.  A normal person became unclean and had to undergo cleansing and repent of sin when they touched unclean things.  Unclean things made the ceremonially “clean” people unclean.  That’s the way of the Law.

But not Christ.  This is the power of the Messiah.  This is the power of the Son of God.  Christ was the truly CLEAN one.  He was the only Clean One in fact.  When Christ came forward and reached out His hand to touch the unclean thing, that thing did not have the POWER to corrupt the Son of God.  No.  Christ made that which was unclean, CLEAN.  He touched unclean dead bodies and they rose from the grave.  He touched women with discharges and they were cleansed.  All through the Gospels we see Light dispelling the darkness.  We see Christ, the clean one, the whole one, making that which was broken, that which was unclean, restored.

Christ looks down with compassion on this Samaritan man at His feet and receives the worship that is due Him for Christ is the Son of God.  Angels refused worship as being only worthy of God.  Christ receives the Worship from this man whom He has restored and then He marvels:

Luke 17:17-19
So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?  Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”  And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

What do you mean Jesus?  The nine are on their way to the Temple.  That’s what the LAW requires.  That’s what a Pharisee would have said.

Jesus remarks that only the foreigner, the only one who wasn’t a Jew, was the one who came back to Worship God.  The other’s missed the whole point.

You see beloved, Christ did not come to be a magic worker.  He didn’t just beam out powers to show off and to merely cure disease.  Sure Lazarus rose from the dead but, years later, he did die and they had a funeral all over for him.  Sure, it’s great that these men were free of their physical affliction here on this Earth but they too are now dead.

Ten Lepers had heard about Jesus and ran into Him that day.  They must have heard that He healed people.  Ten lepers called out to Jesus that day.  Ten lepers went on their way in obedience to His command.  Only one returned and worshipped God.  The other nine were healed in their body but missed the whole point of their healing.  Their healing attested to the Son of God.  Their healing attested to His authority over the Law itself.  In obeying the letter of the Law they missed the Spirit of the Law.

And so it was that Jesus said to the Samaritan:  “Your faith has made you well.”  All of the lepers had received healing but only one returned to express His faith in the Son of God.  Only one of them understood that the most important healing of all was the healing that Christ was to provide to reconcile mankind back to a Holy God.  And so Christ sent a true Worshipper of God on His way.  A man saved by faith in the Son of God.

Leprosy is a great picture of our fallen spiritual condition.  We were all once enemies of God.  We were the unclean ones.  Our first parents were born clean and then rebelled against the Lord of the Universe.  All of their descendants, including us, have been born unclean spiritual lepers.  Our souls are spiritually dark and decaying.  As the Pharisees were, we often look really good on the outside, but the inside is a cesspool of filth and sin.  As Romans 1:29-32 so accurately expresses about mankind:

Rom 1:29-32
…being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

And so at one time, in God’s presence, we were forced to draw our hands to our mouths and shout “UNCLEAN!”  And God had every right to leave us to die in the horrible state of sin.  It is we who had sinned against Him and not He against us.

But God is rich in Mercy.  God is rich in compassion.  He sent Christ to live for us in complete obedience and He sent Christ to die for us so that our sin, our filth, might be washed away.

And so, Christ is being proclaimed to you this day.  If you have never heard the call for the healing of your souls and you yet remain defiled in your sins then Christ is being lifted up before you in your midst.  Do you see the filth of your sin?  Do you smell the stench of a life that is causing your very soul to rot from the inside out?  Christ is before you.

“JESUS, MASTER, HAVE MERCY ON ME.”

He will cleanse you from your sins so that you may fall at His feet and worship Him.