The Need of the Church: Listen to God – W. Robert Godfrey

The Church and Psalm 81 by W. Robert Godfrey | Reformed Theology Articles at Ligonier.org.

Part of my Sunday reading yesterday included this month’s Tabletalk, which is devoted to the theme of the great “Shema”, the introduction to the law found in Deut.6:4-5. Dr.Robert Godfrey tied in nicely to this theme with his article under the rubric “For the Church”. Showing how Psalm 81 (especially v.8b) points us to the same words as the “Shema”, he relates how Psalm 81 speaks to the church’s greatest need at the present hour, and indeed throughout church history: to listen to God. I appreciated this article much, and believe that Godfrey is correct in his estimation of the church’s need. If we ever stop listening to God through His Word, we are done as His church and people.

Here is a portion of the article. You will find all of it at the Ligonier link above.

What does the church most need today? In answering this important but rather general question, Psalm 81 is uniquely important and helpful. This psalm obviously contains beautiful promises and clear directions to help the people of God. But careful study of this psalm will deepen our appreciation of it, increase its value for us, and show us how distinctive it is for helping the church.

As we study psalms, we soon learn that the central verse of a psalm is often significant as a key to its interpretation. The central line of Psalm 81 is the heart of that psalm, as the plaintive cry of God is heard: “O Israel, if you would but listen to me!” (v. 8b). Perhaps this line will resonate more profoundly with the readers of this issue of Tabletalk if we translate it, “O Israel, if you would but hear me!” The center of Psalm 81—indeed the whole psalm—is a reflection on the Shema.

…As the Shema was crucial to the Torah, so it is central to the Psalter and to the Christian life. God’s people must hear His Word, particularly to reject false gods (v. 9) and to walk in His ways (v. 13). They must not follow their own wisdom (v. 12). How sad to contemplate that God might give us what we think is good for us.

The Lord reminds His people that in history He has been the Deliverer and now promises that when we open our mouths in prayer, He will hear us and meet our needs (v. 10). He is the God who preserves and provides for the needs of His own.

The failure of Israel to hear the Word of God was rectified by God’s own Son. Jesus always heard and honored God’s Word. His Father delighted in Him for that reason: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 17:5). Jesus perfectly listened and followed so that His people would have a complete and perfect salvation. The Father continues to call His people to listen, now directing them to the words of His Son: “listen to him” (Matt. 17:5). The salvation and health of the church depend on it continuing to listen to God’s Word.

“The Greatest Commandment” – Mark Jones

The Greatest Commandment by Mark Jones | Reformed Theology Articles at Ligonier.org.

As part of my Sunday reading yesterday I read another feature article in the May Tabletalk (Ligonier Ministries). This month’s issue is devoted to the subject of the law of God, or as the cover has it, “The Shema”, based on Deut.6:4-5. The article I read (and linked above) was by pastor Mark Jones and titled “The Greatest Commandment”. In it he focuses on the chief calling we have as believers according to God’s law, as also confirmed by Christ in Mark 12:28-30, viz., to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.

After carefully parsing what this main statute of God’s law requires of us – which is rather overwhelming to us and quite discouraging when we consider our sin and shortcomings – Jones ends on this positive, encouraging note:

POSSIBLE OR IMPOSSIBLE?

Certainly no one disputes that Christ loves His Father with all of His heart, soul, mind, and strength. But not all Christians are persuaded that they can approach such love. However, as Augustine famously prayed, “God give what You command and command whatever You will.” By the Holy Spirit, Christians can, in a real sense, love God.Psalm 119:34says, “Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.” Keeping the law with the “whole heart” may be understood legally or evangelically. Legally, only Christ loved God with His whole heart because the law requires perfect conformity, of which we are incapable. Nonetheless, in an “evangelical” sense (to quote the Puritans), God, out of His love and mercy in Christ, enables us to love Him truly but imperfectly. Evangelically, our love for God is always flawed and incomplete, and we must be ever repenting of our failure to love Him fully. Still, we have love for God, while unregenerate hearts know nothing of it. If our love for God arises from a heart regenerated by His Spirit, we may be said to love God with our “whole heart,” though such love remains imperfect until our glorification.

This should be a great source of encouragement to us. Why? Because our hope is in Jesus, who fulfilled this command perfectly in our place so that we do not have to stand before God with only an imperfect love as our hope for entering heaven. Second, because of our union with Jesus, what is true of Him becomes true of us. God enables us to obey this command and love Him, albeit imperfectly, with all that we are so that God is delighted in the love He receives from His people. After all, an intense desire to love God with all of our being is the only proper response to the One who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all (Rom. 8:32).

You are encouraged to read the entire article at the Ligonier link above.

Dr. Mark Jones is pastor of Faith Reformed Presbyterian Church in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is co-author with Dr. Joel R. Beeke of A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life.

“Shema”: “Hear” says Our One Lord – May “Tabletalk”

One Lord by Robert Rothwell | Reformed Theology Articles at Ligonier.org.

Yesterday before worship services I got started on my new issue of Tabletalk, the Reformed devotional magazine from Ligonier Ministries. The May issue is titled “Shema”, taken from the Hebrew text of Deut.6:4 and referring to the great introduction to the law of God. The word simply means “hear”, as in “Hear, O Israel”, as God calls His people to listen carefully to and to obey His holy commandments. This issue, in other words, is on the law of God.

Editor Burk Parsons introduces the theme under his “Coram Deo – Before the Face of God” rubric. His article is titled “Delighting in Our Duty“, and he has this to say in part about our relation to the law:

When we think of the law of God, the first thing that should come to mind is love—God’s love for us as fallen sinners, directing us to love Him, enjoy Him, and glorify Him. God’s law is a gracious gift to us, and it has three primary uses. First, the law functions as a teacher by showing us God’s perfect righteousness and our unrighteousness and sin, and it shows our danger of God’s judgment, leading us, by God’s grace, in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ who fulfilled all the righteous demands of God’s law (Rom. 3:20; 4:15; Gal. 3:19–24). Second, the law functions to restrain evil in all realms of society, preserving humanity and, thus, serving God’s overall plan of redemption for His covenant people (Deut. 19:16–21; 1 Tim. 1:8–11). Third, the law functions as a guide to righteous living for all men, and it directs us as God’s beloved children by teaching us what pleases our heavenly Father and fulfills the law of Christ (1 Cor. 9:21; 1 Thess. 4:1–8).

Robert Rothwell, an associate editor for “TT”, and the one writing the daily Bible studies this year, wrote one of the feature articles on this theme of the law. His article, “One Lord’ (linked above) included this fine application section following his explanation of what it means to be a monotheistic (one God) people:

Biblical monotheism is not mere abstract speculation but has at least four practical consequences for life and ministry:

Certainty—God clearly and truly reveals Himself, so we are not left to guess what He expects from us. Modern people often view themselves as “seekers” doing their best to figure out God. Yet mere conjecture is a shaky foundation for one’s eternal destiny.

Courage—Western Christians are not yet being thrown to the lions. Yet if we ever face serious suffering, we will not persevere if we are unconvinced that the God of Scripture is the only God. We will deny Christ at the first hint of trouble if we waver on the fact that one God means one Savior for the world. Without this foundation, we will bow to religious relativism. Daniel’s commitment to monotheism strengthened him to resist paganism. By God’s grace, we follow his example. We fear not what our enemies can do to our goods, kindred, or mortal lives, for if there is only one God and we are on His side, persecution is but a “light momentary affliction” compared to the “eternal weight of glory” in store for us (2 Cor. 4:7–18).

Conviction—Conviction and courage are inseparable and mutually dependent. Courage enables us to persevere in love for the one true God. Conviction enables us to take a stand even before trouble comes our way. If our faith is grounded in the fact that there is only one God and therefore one truth, then our preaching, teaching, evangelism, and cultural engagement will be strong. We will confront fallen humanity’s strongholds, and the Spirit will use our words to soften the hearts of sinners. The church sorely needs men and women of godly conviction. Such conviction begins with an unwavering commitment to biblical monotheism.

Clarity—Understanding biblical monotheism helps us to be clear about what we believe and are to teach. We do not believe in one God who is known by many names and who offers many paths of salvation. We do not affirm that it is enough to believe one God exists. We confess that we must trust in the God of the Bible, who is not worshiped even by the most well-meaning Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, animists, or modern Jews.

As always, you may read the rest of this article and many others at the Ligonier website under their Tabletalk link. The daily devotions continue on the OT prophets, at present on Isaiah. Need I say again, “Great food for the soul”?!

Philadelphia abortion clinic horror – K.Powers

Philadelphia abortion clinic horror: Column.

The MSM (main stream media) has largely and significantly (though not surpisingly) been silent on this story of the trial of Philadephia murderer-abortionist Kermit Gosnell. But Kirsten Powers, a Fox News political analyst, writing in USA Today (April 11, 2013), calls her fellow journalists to task and expresses outrage over this silence and over the murderous actions of this doctor of death. Here is a portion of what she wrote:

Infant beheadings. Severed baby feet in jars. A child screaming after it was delivered alive during an abortion procedure. Haven’t heard about these sickening accusations?

It’s not your fault. Since the murder trial of Pennsylvania abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell began March 18, there has been precious little coverage of the case that should be on every news show and front page. The revolting revelations of Gosnell’s former staff, who have been testifying to what they witnessed and did during late-term abortions, should shock anyone with a heart.

NBC-10 Philadelphia reported that, Stephen Massof, a former Gosnell worker, “described how he snipped the spinal cords of babies, calling it, ‘literally a beheading. It is separating the brain from the body.” One former worker, Adrienne Moton, testified that Gosnell taught her his “snipping” technique to use on infants born alive.

The actions of this doctor are revolting to the mind, heart and stomach. I cannot begin to imagine how this man could do such things to tiny infants and function in other areas of life. I cannot imagine the horrors of working in such an environment of killing.

And yet Dr.Gosnell’s actions are the logical working out of the principles to which those in the abortion industry and those who support it are committed. If unborn babies are not real persons in their estimation, then what difference does it make if you kill them before or after they are born? In fact, what difference does it make if you kill a person in his/her 40′s or 80′s by euthanasia (so-called “mercy killing) or if you take his/her life at birth?

It doesn’t, because principles always work through. This is what we are seeing in our day. Horrifying? Indeed! Logical? Yes, given the rejection of God’s principles for life and loving Him and the neighbor. And maybe that’s why the MSM ignores this story. Because it isn’t really gruesome news to them anyway. It’s all quite normal.

J.Calvin on Psalm 112 – “…None belong(s) to the worshippers of God, but he who endeavors to keep his law.”

Also for our meditation on Psalm 112 today we post these words of John Calvin on v. from his commentary on this psalm. May his thoughts also enlighten and inspire us in the God-fearing life.

1 Blessed is the man that feareth Jehovah….

Although the prophet begins with an exhortation, he has… something farther in view, than simply the calling upon the faithful to praise God. To practice wickedness, and perpetrate injustice, is, in all quarters, accounted a great happiness; and, although integrity may be occasionally praised, nevertheless, there is scarcely one among a hundred who pursues it, because all imagine that they will be miserable unless, by one means or another, they seize as booty every thing which comes in their way. In opposition to this, the prophet tells us that more advantage is to be expected from God’s paternal regard, than from the inflicting of every species of injury, and the perpetrating of every kind of injustice in our power; and by setting before us the certain hope of reward, he calls us back to the practice of equity and beneficence.

The following is the analysis which I give of the verse: Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, and delighteth himself in his commandments; and thus, by the second clause of the verse, the prophet specifies in what the fear of God consists. And that the addition of this explanatory clause is called for, is quite apparent from what we remarked towards the conclusion of the preceding psalm. For, while the law is boldly contemned by mankind, yet nothing is more common than to pretend that they fear God. Such impiety is well refuted by the prophet, when he acknowledges none as belonging to the worshippers of God, but he who endeavors to keep his law.

…We must, therefore, cheerfully embrace the law of God, and that, too, in such a manner, that the love of it, with all its sweetness, may overcome all the allurements of the flesh, otherwise, mere attention to it will be unavailing. Hence a man cannot be regarded as a genuine observer of the law, until he has attained to this — that the delight which he takes in the law of God renders obedience agreeable to him. …The prophet, in affirming that the worshippers of God are happy, guards us against the very dangerous deception which the ungodly practice upon themselves, in imagining that they can reap a sort of happiness, I know not what, from doing evil.

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Freedom to Read – American Library Association

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Freedom to Read | American Library Association.

This week (Sept.30-Oct.6, 2012) is the ALA’s annual “Banned Books Week”, and this year marks the 30th anniversary of the event. This is how the ALA describes the nature of this significant event:

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.

By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. Check out the frequently challenged books section to explore the issues and controversies around book challenges and book banning.

Banned Books Week 2012 marks its 30th anniversary (see timeline). Thousands of individuals and institutions across the United States participate in Banned Books Week each year, and it has grown into a premier literary event and a national awareness and advocacy campaign around censorship. In honor of the 30th anniversary of Banned Books Week, the Office for Intellectual Freedom delivers the 50 State Salute to Banned Books Week in coordination with ALA Chapters. The 50 State Salute consists of videos on how each state celebrates the freedom to read. For more information on how your organization can participate, please visit the 50 State Salute page. And for the second year in a row, we are cosponsoring the Banned Books Virtual Read-Out, where readers can declare their freedom to read by uploading videos of themselves reading from their favorite banned/challenged books. The critieria and video submission information has been updated. Please check out the Banned Books Week Virtual Read-Out page for more information.

In this connection, a couple of points are in order. 1st, as Christians, we also certainly may and should celebrate the freedom to read. We thank God for the giving us “freedom of the press” and access to so much good literature, including especially access to His Word, the Bible, and the freedom to read it in this country (See below).

2nd, we must remember that we define our “freedom” not according to the dictates of the world but according to the standards of God’s Word. And from that source and according to that standard, we learn that true freedom is never license to do as we please (sin), but the liberty (in Christ) to do what pleases God. Applied to reading, that means that freedom to read does not give me (or you) the right to read anything you wish, or anything the world puts in print and on the shelf at the bookstore or library. Its “norms” are fundamentally different from ours, and just because they have the “freedom” to produce and promote their sexual agenda (homosexuality, e.g.) does not mean that I have the right to fill my mind with their promiscuity. Yes, my liberty in Christ means that I will “ban” certain books from my own eyes (and soul) and from the eyes of my children and grandchildren. God’s Word requires me to do so, and freely and gladly I do so – because of what Christ has done for me and in me.

And, 3rd, let us not forget, the Bible continues to be one of the most banned books in the world! Along with the notice of this being “Banned Books Week”, I received this note in an email from the Association of Christian Librarians (to which I belong):

According to Voice of the Martyrs <http://www.persecution.com/> there are over fifty countries where the Bible is currently banned or suppressed in some way.

Therefore, as we celebrate our freedom to read this week – the Bible too!, let’s remember those in other lands who don’t have this freedom, and pray that God would give people in oppressive nations access to His holy Word, so that they too might know true liberty in Christ.

And finally, to encourage you to commemorate “freedom to read” this week, you are hereby informed that the PR Seminary library is open to you, with access to thousands of edifying books, and you are invited to come and read to your heart’s content. The only “ban” we have is that some materials may not be taken home (reference works and periodicals); but you may still read them in the library until the lights go out

Interview: Os Guinness Warns of Loss of Freedom in America

Interview: Os Guinness Warns of Loss of Freedom in America.

I stumbled on this significant book and printed interview a little over a week ago, wanting to save it for one of my Saturday posts. The article was posted in the politics section of The Christian Post on Aug.14, 2012 and contains a  fascinating interview with British Christian scholar Os Guinness on the crisis of freedom in America. The interview relates to a new book of his, A Free People’s Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future (IVP, 2012). I have read other books by Guinness and always found his writings insightful and thought-provoking. Based on this interview, it would appear that his latest book offers more of the same. I will be looking to read and possibly review this book.

After a brief “bio” on Guinness from the same online article, I will quote a few paragraphs from the interview; you may read the rest at the the link above, or below. If you wish to watch a video interview from the publisher with Guinness, visit this page.

Guinness was born in China to medical missionaries and raised in England. He holds a doctorate degree from Oriel College, Oxford, has been a guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies and the Brooking’s Institution, and is the author of over 25 books.

CP: What was your main purpose for writing this book?

Guinness: I think the deepest issue in America is the crisis of freedom. I’m a strong believer in St. Augustine’s idea that you judge a nation by what it loves supremely. And there’s no question that, over many centuries, what Americans love supremely is freedom. So I think you can judge the health of a nation by the health of freedoms today.

…CP: Throughout the book you talk about “ordered liberty,” which sounds a bit like an oxymoron. What do you mean by that?

Guinness: The greatest enemy of freedom is freedom. Now the reason for that paradox is that freedom requires an order, or a framework, and the only appropriate framework for freedom is self-restraint, and yet self-restraint is precisely what freedom undermines when it flourishes. You’ve really got to consider, what is ordered freedom — in other words, a framework of freedom? Put differently, freedom is not just negative, freedom from, it is positive too, which means freedom to be or freedom for, but that means you need to know who you’re supposed to be. So in a Christian understanding, Jesus says you will know the truth and the truth will set you free — that is ordered freedom.

CP: Your argument, as I understand it, is that Americans have become complacent and taken their liberty for granted, and thus have not done the important work of sustaining their freedom. By and large, I can travel where I want, buy what I want, do what I want (especially in the privacy of my home). I don’t feel like I’m losing my freedom. Why should I be concerned?

Guinness: Well, let’s go back. The framers understood well that freedom in society never, ever lasts. Free societies don’t have a good track record. So they studied the Greeks and the Romans — Polybius, Cicero and others — after a while freedom didn’t last, and, they wanted to set up a system that could make freedom sustainable, possibly forever. But Americans have abandoned that system, and, I would say that modern American freedom, which is largely libertarian and negative, the freedom from only, is quite simply unsustainable. So you can see today in a lot of areas that you’ve got a radical relativism underlying a lot of things and it’s creating social chaos in this country.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/interview-os-guinness-warns-of-loss-of-freedom-in-america-79879/#DBoFI7idHb0hI1hG.99

More uproarious than Cathy on gays: Chick-fil-A’s claims about Lord’s Day

More uproarious than Cathy on gays: Chick-fil-A’s claims about Lord’s Day.

With all the attention this past week on Chick-fil-A’s position (actually the owner’s position) on gay marriage vs. traditional (Biblical) marriage, what is lost is the fact that this chain of restaurants is also closed on Sunday – for principle reasons! Cathy’s position on keeping the sabbath is just as strong – and this writer wonders if Christians today would defend this position as strongly and vocally as they do the position on gay marriage. That is indeed a very good question – and point to be made. Because I think we all know what the answer to that question is: No. The modern church and many professing Christians have long-ago walked away from the principles and practice of the 4th commandment. In light of this, Cathy’s position is most-commendable and most-heartening.

You will benefit from this article on this particular subject. It’s an issue just as vital as one’s view of marriage.

Criticism of homosexuality brings shrieks of indignation and grinding of teeth among our elites and their talking heads, and Christians are right to applaud the chicken restaurant chain’s moral outlook with their words and by taking their families out to eat for chicken sandwiches and Cokes.

But the Cathy family’s respect for the Lord’s Day is as shocking as its acceptance of marriage. If people understood the Cathys’ view of that day and the special claim God makes upon it, the gnashing of teeth might come from the other side of the aisles — from among Christians who have a low view of the Fourth Commandment regarding the Sabbath, seeing it as an Old Testament ceremonial fulfilled by Christ and laid aside as were many ceremonial rites of old Israel.

As Christians in the next days rise to the company’s defense on marriage, might they be willing to consider Chick-fil-A’s Lord’s Day stand and defend that, as well?

To read the full article, visit this page.

If you would like to read additional materials on this subject, visit the Protestant Reformed Churches pamphlet page (Christian living section) where we have a variety of resources on the Lord’s Day and its importance for the NT Christian.

Is Sandusky Really Such a Bad Guy After All? – Reformation21

Is Sandusky Really Such a Bad Guy After All? – Reformation21.

This essay is not for the faint of heart, but it is an outstanding read. It will hit you in the stomach, in the mind – and in the heart. And for that reason it is a must read.  David B. Garner writes an open review and critique of the sexual promiscuity and perversity of our age, brought to light most recently by the Jerry Sandusky case at Penn State University. Pointing out the “moral outrage” that our society expresses in instances such as this, he asks the question, “Why?” And he turns this moral outrage against each one of us, who are perverse sinners in our own way and time, and who will one day face the ultimate Judge – the holy and righteous God.

Yet Garner also shows us the only light in the darkness of this depravity that is Sandusky’s – and ours – Jesus Christ. I believe you will find this post from the “Reformation21″ website to be just what we need to hear in the face of the Penn State scandal. May God use it to convict each of us and drive us to His Son.

So then, is Mr. Sandusky really that bad? Measured by today’s norms and today’s blogs, he’s a certifiable scumbag. That’s today, but what about tomorrow? Given another day and another time, Sandusky could find himself the poster child for moral self-expression. Our dominant cultural ethical paradigm turns such plausibility into likelihood.

The truth of the matter is that Sandusky is really bad, and in fact, he’s much worse than the nastiest of our current cultural fury imagines. No matter how persistent it may be, no amount of societal indignation, legal consequence, or ostracization is commensurate with the perversion of his wickedness. Yes, lives are damaged, families wrecked, and a highly respected and now badly beaten educational institution reels on the ropes. It is all ugly, despicably ugly.

But none of that tells the truly gruesome story. Sandusky’s final court is neither public opinion nor even the Attorney General. He is not bad because our current shared sentiment declares him so. Sandusky’s sin is first a sin against God, his Maker. His moral accountability is comprehensive and his guilt pervasive. He will give an account. His moral failure was not finally his violation of our floating cultural norm, but a violation in heart and deed of the law of God. Mr. Sandusky is a man in the image of God and made for the glory of God. He has fallen well short of the revealed divine standard. His sinful heart and his cruel life expose rebellion, deeply rooted and personally intractable. He has leapt from the ocean of divine moral prescription, dragging others with him. His life reeks of this rebellion, and left to his own, he cannot come back.

The media have, for good or ill, streamed his sexual escapades to the living rooms and the iPhones of millions. He is dirty, and his now public filth has dirtied us. But here is the real rub. The dirt does not come only from Sandusky. It’s in us too. To put it starkly, if he came in contact with us and our hearts, his life would be further stained.

Thus his disturbing story screams for our attention, directing us not finally against him, but rather toward us and toward our own moral compass. Americans must take this moment to look in the mirror and to think probingly, to peel back the layers of our own hearts and reckon honestly with our own obstinacy and bondage, and to acknowledge our own perversions for what they are. We need to stop talking and start listening to the voice of One who really knows and defines the moral scoop.

So then, the real question becomes: who are we before God? Have we like Sandusky claimed ourselves free, when in fact we have been duped into thinking freedom is found in rebellion against God rather than submission to him? Have we created sophisticated schemes to eclipse the dirt of our lives, our words, our hearts? Have we reckoned with the scum or sought to whitewash it with the filthy rag of dishonesty: “I’m not as bad as him?” Our hopeless devotion to self-determination and self-defense themselves reveal our own smutty and stinky rebellion.

We must come to terms with who we are and what we are doing. No doubt coming to terms with God’s law will inevitably lead us to tremble before him. We do not and cannot measure up. In fact, we have not kept the law. We have not even wanted to do so. Honesty will force us to see our consummate failure. Moreover, our constant, determined, and blatant resistance make us dirty, irretrievably stained, contorted, and condemned. We have tried to launch ourselves outside the waters of God’s laws, and though we flopped around freely in the sun for a few moments, our out-of-water rebellion has killed us spiritually, morally, and culturally. The stench of our rotten spiritual lives wafts wildly and indiscriminately.

To read the rest of this essay, go here.

Easy Idolatry in the Church

The Church and Idolatry by Jared Wilson | Reformed Theology Articles at Ligonier.org.

Part of my Sunday “before worship” reading was this outstanding article from this month’s Tabletalk. Written by Pastor Jared Wilson (Middletown Springs Community Church in Vermont), it covers the “easy” sin of idolatry in the church – even in Reformed churches. He has many good thoughts and applications, also for us. I will quote a few lines and once more encourage you to read the rest at the link above. It makes for good follow-up reading to our Sunday worship – and for our life of worship this week.

Now set your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God” (1 Chron. 22:19). All sin is idolatry because every sin is an exercise in trust of something or someone other than the one true God to satisfy, fulfill, or bless. It is not difficult to see how violations of commandments two through ten are automatic violations of commandment one. This truth reveals that the hottest “worship war” going is the one taking place daily in the sanctuary of our own hearts. But we must wage this war because none of us is a bystander to idol worship.

…Likewise, every weekend men and women file into church buildings in order to exult in the rhetorical skill of their preacher, to admire him and think of their church as his church, not Christ’s church. Many of us file in each week to enjoy the conspicuous spiritual exercises of our brethren. We worship the worship experience; we tithe with expectation of return from heaven’s slot machine; we dress to impress; and we serve and lead to compensate for the inadequacies in our hearts that only Christ can fill. Every weekend, hundreds of preachers extol a therapeutic gospel from the pages of the same Bible where the real gospel lies. We Reformed are not exempt, as too often our affections are poured totally into doctrine with only vague admiration reserved for doctrine’s Author.

A church will become idolatrous in a heartbeat because it’s already there. So, we cannot set our worship on autopilot. We cannot mistake the appearance of busy religiosity for worship in spirit and truth. We see in Exodus 32:5 that even the worshipers of the golden calf ascribed their worship to the covenant Lord Yahweh.

The gospel imperative, then, is to return again and again to the gospel indicative. Our first duty is “gospel obedience” (Rom. 10:16; 2 Thess. 1:8; 1 Peter 4:17), which is to stand at attention to Christ upon the gospel’s “tenhut.” Our hearts and minds flow through the rut of idolatry, but the deliberate proclamation of Jesus at every possible turn will force us off our idolatrous course.