Kingdom of the Logos

A Christian Place of Critical Thinking and Adventure

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Pray for Spiritual Warfare

Read 1 Peter 4

In 1 Peter 4, St. Peter is giving wisdom to his people for spiritual warfare, and he begins by addressing suffering. God may have not created you to suffer, but He did not create you to avoid suffering either. Moreover, good things can come out of suffering, for Christ Himself suffered and died on a cross that eternal life may be purchased. The early church endured a great deal, even frequent martyrdom. Despite this, the church  flourished. They were serious about evangelism, and understood that life with Jesus was more meaningful than any slavery to sin.

There is one large difference between the cultural battle of our time and that of when Peter is writing this book, and while it does not even remotely diminish the value of Peter’s words, it is important for us to understand. At the time of Peter’s words, Rome was overwhelmingly pagan and had been historically pagan. The church was laboring to convert pagans, and thus their suffering was from a hostile world that resisted the church’s ministry. The impulse of their suffering comes from a pagan culture that was being converted into Christianity. To contrast this, America was historically Christian, but that era has ended. Moreover, we are now in an era where the old pagan ideas have returned and are bludgeoning any semblance of God from our nation. Whereas in Peter’s time the church was the assertive body seeking to convert their neighbors, in our time, the assertive belief system dominating our culture is pagan.

How did we get here, and how do we bring Jesus to our neighbors so they can find the joy and meaning God has in store for them? If you watch crime television shows or movies, you have probably heard the term modus operandi, or m.o., which refers to the mode of operation used by a villain to carry out their misdeeds. Let us learn a new term: modus deceptio. This term, which literally means mode of deception, can be simply understood as “how did we get here?” The modus deceptio is how one is ensnared in sin, error, and all wiles of evil and torment. In our modern era, we are afflicted by a peculiar affliction where we as a people cannot tell the difference between truth, error, and outright lies. This term, modus deceptio, can help understand how we got here and thus how we can better fight the spiritual warfare of our age.

In the garden, the modus deceptio for Adam was passivity. Had he been the man that God designed him to be, he would have stepped in and led his wife away from the curse. This passivity still plagues us today, wherein we fall for lies and ignore immorality. Where a man’s wrath may inflict tyranny on those under his power, we must remember that sin works in many ways, and the sin of cowardice and passivity will curse generations well into the future. 

Eve’s modus deceptio in the garden was giving an ear to one who didn’t deserve it, a modus deceptio many often fall into today. Not all voices are equally truthful, and not all are worthy of an ear. Even among sinners, some are willing to receive the Gospel and others only want to sow destruction. It is a modus deceptio to believe that all are worthy of an ear.

Daniel Defoe, the Presbyterian Novelist who authored Robinson Crusoe, stated that “wherever God erects a house of prayer, the Devil always builds a chapel there; and 'twill be found upon examination the latter has the largest congregation.”  We must understand that some ideas are framed in mischief, and what this means is that many of the destructive things stolen into our culture are things that were designed for failure. Many people were sold on social causes, political movements, and even snares for the church such as replacing evangelism with intercultural studies. However, we sit down and examine the fruits of these movements, none of these have done what they purported to do, but have precisely made worse the problems the claimed intentions of fixing. But, in truth, these things were not designed to succeed in their intentions, but only to separate people from what makes them healthy and whole: they were meant to remove Jesus and destroy the family.

Hell came to broken people, and convinced them that the restraints of Christianity was the cause of their misery, and that if they would remove God and buckle down in their vices and desires then they would find joy. If they would fasten themselves to the latest social fad they would find fulfillment. The Lord teaches us we don’t know wicked ideas by how clever their words are, but by their fruits. These hellish lifestyles and modes of thinking have been in our culture long enough that we can weigh these fruits, and they are miserable.

In the time of Peter’s writing, many in the church were former pagans, who were ensnared by the temptations to return to their ungodly ways. Peter assures them that if they suffer, may it not be because they returned to the paganism that once enslaved them. We are subdued by passivity, by an inability to calculate how hot the fire is next to us. Hell has had a long time to refine its deceptions, and the fig leaves and falsehoods that permit people to carry on in their passivity are by design. We are at risk of forsaking our heritage to step into the miserable sufferings of hell.

Jesus alone can make people healthy and whole, and yet many of our neighbors do not know him. They are unhappy, but rather than coming to Jesus they buy into untrue belief systems and lifestyles that were never capable of bringing them salvation nor even designed to do so. The devil does not have to build a counterfeit that works, just one that people will bite into, for his goal is to separate people from Jesus. For some time I have understood that in the same way that God’s grace comes to people before they know Him, the devil has his wicked version of this too, wherein he comes to people as early as possible to turn them away from God before they even understand it. I have finally been revealed the word for this: tenderizing. Tenderizing is the devil's antonym and imitation of prevenient grace.

Peter encouraged the church to be wise in their spiritual battle. They were assertive in their faith, willing to suffer and die for the name of Jesus. As a result, numbers were being added to them day by day. Let us not fall for a modus deceptio of passivity, where something so petty as comfort keeps us from teaching our neighbors about Christ Jesus who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Sin is miserable, giving an ever increasing desire in exchange for an ever diminishing return. Many are trapped in counterfeits, and some have wantonly given themselves over to the devil. May we not avoid spiritual warfare, but actively seek it.

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The Faithful & True

Read Revelation 19

Download a printable version here.

Meanwhile the world shall burn, and from her ashes spring new Heav’n and Earth, wherein the just shall dwell, and after all their tribulations long see golden days, fruitful of golden deeds, with joy and love triumphing, and fair truth. Such words are not hollow, but when their meaning is forgotten we must rouse them to the forefront of our minds. God is sovereign, and with loving mercy He desires none for eternal calamity, but that all might enter into repentance.

We live in interesting times, wherein man has forgotten he is a fallen creature. Where he cannot discern the value of his own nation; moreover, where he lacks clarity on what is good and true. At the pit of this malady is a critical failure: man has forgotten that God is good, thereby forgetting the only metric sufficient to determine if anything is good. Our principal Scripture for today is Revelation 19:11, reading: and I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Anything taken for granted will be lost; moreover, anything excepted from severe accountability will grow evil like cancer. Christ comes to afford us victory, and we must be men and women who will courageously stand against evil in our present day. The less the church teaches against sin and evil, the less people will desire holiness and freedom. Sin is both naturally desirable and naturally enslaving. People naturally prefer bondage to their own sins over the liberty that God has in store for us. However, we are not saved in order that we might be content to let our neighbors endure the sin and its miserable fruits. Instead, we are called to assert holiness that people might live with freedom. Chaos grows when we are passive about the darkness of their hour.

Without an appreciation for holiness and freedom, we find ourselves in a generation of ingrates who believe all manner of folly. Some believe the world is naturally a utopia, and if they could tear everything down they would find a better society. Others have surrendered their minds to idols that think, provide, and ultimately enslave them. People are confused about who they are, and spend their lives in pursuit of ever increasing desires for ever diminishing returns.

Our culture is now afflicted with an inability to agree on truth, and this is the undeniable mark of a society that no longer values God. Christ Jesus is both the Way, the Truth, and the Life, as well as the Faithful and True. Belief in absolute truth is a direct product in believing in a singular God who is absolutely sovereign. Belief that there are multiple truths is a hallmark of paganism and heathenism. Our culture has declined to the point that we can clearly see the fruits of rejecting God. The removal of God was sold to people as a means of freedom and liberty, but in truth, it was the desolation of freedom and liberty.

Freedom, as designed by God, is the ability to live without the tyranny of inescapable burdens. Christ liberates us from sins which we could not otherwise escape. Those who assembled together to pave what is now America, did so under Christian conviction. In consideration of Independence Day, let us appreciate what it means for God to be sovereign, and that the good things of God come at a cost. Moreover, let us examine the language in some of our founding documents and weigh them against our current hour.

In the Name of God. Amen. These were the opening words of the Mayflower compact, the pilgrims were not timid in their pursuit. For the Glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith: a voyage into the northern parts of Virginia. These words were not of worldly ambition, but a product of Christian motivation; moreover, the Mayflower was itself a congregation of believers who undertook the danger of pioneering into the unknown as an act of faith. It was neither safe nor comfortable, they put aside any desires for comfort in order to sacrifice for a future society where their children could freely prosper with God.

The foundation of the Declaration of Independence is that there is a higher authority than worldly governments, and should worldly governments and human institutions rebel against God in their pursuit of tyrannies, then it becomes onerous of God-fearing men and women to declare who is God. For indeed, there come hours in the cascade of history where obedience to tyrants is rebellion against God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego understood this, for bowing to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue would have put them in sin with God. God Himself was vividly present in rejecting the institutions of Egypt that His people might be free. Christ did not renounce His ministry in compliance with unGodly Roman laws or aberrant Jewish doctrines.

The Declaration of Independence states its premise in the following words:  When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. Thomas Jefferson’s words invoke the sovereignty and authority of God and His natural law as the impetus for their rejection of England.

Jefferson then opens the argument saying “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Then, the closing argument in repetition of the providential theme writes: “We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown.”

In both the opening and closing of the Declaration’s critical argument, Thomas Jefferson and the assembly therewith, acknowledges a higher authority than kings and worldly ambitions. Moreover, God’s sovereignty is not only invoked as part of an appeal of affirmation, but also of judgement. The opening clause of the Declaration’s final argument invokes God’s judgment before recognizing their own authority as men, and in doing so they are asking providence to punish them if they are wrong or to bless them if they are correct.

Do we invoke God’s goodness and judgment in our lives? Do we live as if the goodness of God comes to make all things new, whereby the old order of sin and chaos will be dissolved in an act of final calamity? Do we remember that God is sovereign, and that His goodness truly desires for us a world clean of sin and death? So many have been robbed of a life of victory, courage, and freedom. Let us stand with Christ, the Faithful and True, that we might undertake serious positions in the spiritual warfare around us. Let us be a people who are longsuffering and hastening for the Day of God.

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The Joy of God's Natural Law

Read 1 Peter 3

Download a printable version here.

Genesis 1:27 reads: So God created mankind in his image, in the image of God he created them;  male and female he created them. There is an order to our design, and men and women are fully made in the Image of God, and their design is both sufficient and necessary to satisfy one another. God gave Adam and Eve all they could have wanted, for He made them just and whole, but in their rebellion they chose ruin. Adam, given the unique traits of being assertive and responsible for his household, exchanged his just design for passivity. Eve, given the unique traits of compassion, nurturing and beauty, exchanged her just design to give unguided compassion to one who despised it. Moreover she desired the beauty of a forbidden fruit rather than the beauty of her own design. Therein these rejections of their God-given traits, they inhaled the curse of death for all their children.

The more a man breaks God’s moral and natural laws, the more he finds himself broken. Moreover, the more one rebels against truth, the more one hates its beauty. In the same way that God graces us with gifts before we know Him, the deceiver comes to us in our innocence to plant seeds of rebellion that prepare us to cringe at the Truth of God.

1 Peter 3 has been shied away from in the modern church, and to the effect of ruin. Peter’s words are declarations of the natural law, teachings that build up the dignity of being made in the Image of God. Men and women are designed to build one another up, to complete one another and give honor to God. It is a beautiful thing to fulfill one’s design, and Peter writes to the church because of the misery created by failing to honor this truth. Life and life abundant is found when people honor God’s natural law, and the People of God endured when they respected it and failed when they ignored it.

The idolatrous spirit of our age, that is, our modern manifestations of the tried and true doctrines of demons, lies to us about dignity. We are told that if we are good people who want respect and dignity for others, then we must affirm whatever natural desires and choices a person makes. However, when Jesus speaks in John 13:34, the Lord says “ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” He doesn’t say “love one another as Baal loved you,” or, “love one another as caesar, or the culture told you to.” He doesn’t even say “love one another as they want you to.” Instead, Jesus says to love one another “just as I have loved you.” Jesus is sovereign, and He is the one that defines dignity.

The more men have been encouraged to be effeminate and women to be masculine, the more we see abject suffering and misery. The result of this is a generation of men and women who do not satisfy one another, and often hate each other through all manner of evils. Divorce, disinterest in marriage, perversion of marriage, and even animosity within the confines of marriage are all products of this. The natural law has been broken, and people are in turn broken by it. Affirming indignities does not produce an increase of dignity, and should the church fail to anchor the concept of dignity to God who made the heavens and the earth, then we see a culture like we have today where misery runs rampant. When people have no idea who they are, chaos breaks free. People reject the dignity of their design and fashion themselves into monsters who are neither just and whole, nor even attractive to their peers.

The idolatrous spirit of our age wants people to be sensuous and stimulating, but not justly attractive. The deceiver wants people to be luscious to one another, but not truly desirable. All of the truly desirable traits, such as possessing a stable mind, stable house, healthy bodies, good hygiene, and even proper dress becoming of creatures made in the Image of God, all of these things are hated by evil. Evil wants people to be hideous, confused, and depressed, because when people are not just and whole in their personal souls before God, then it is easy to convince them to look for an antidote to their misery in some voracious connivance outside of their person. People who are hungry to be just and whole in their personal lives are easily deceived into wicked causes and destructive medicines that are nothing more than snake oils.-

Here in recent days, I went to do a service project and Rocky offered to go along with me. We were going to help an elderly man clean up his property, and one of our tasks was removing a heap of trash that had been festering in the basement. After cleaning through the mountain of reeking garbage, we found ourselves cleaning up the miscellaneous debris scattered about the floor. There amid the mingle filth was a crucifix. Moreover this was not a simple crucifix, but a carefully painted one that depicted not only Jesus’ body on the cross, but also the bloody wounds which the Lord endured. It was covered in black sludge, and as I wiped it clean I saw written on the back a price of 49 cents.

The sacrifice of God, the death and victory of the cross, which had been so beautifully captured in this item, had been bought, resold for a petty 49 cents, and then cast asunder to be the foundation of a trash heap. The gift of our Lord, subjugated to unspeakable indignity, and sold by the hands of man for a trite amount. How this crucifix reflects the Gospel, and how it should stir us to think.

One of the biggest fallacies in the modern world is that the problems we suffer are generated by the systems around us, and if we can all get together and collectively change definitions and standards, then everything will be peaceful. Jesus teaches us that we know evil by its fruits, and we can verify this line of thinking as evil by the hideous suffering it creates.

Whenever we decide we do not need neither God nor His natural and moral laws and thereby discard them to the bottom of the trash pile, there is only one outcome: a wretched mess. In the same way that crucifix was thrown to the lowest indignity of a garbage heap, we find a revolting calamity whenever discard the gifts of our God-given designs. Evolutionary theory does not explain beauty, for animals can sustain their generations without it. A perverted understanding of the natural law which denies God as its creator cannot explain why it is true for a man to honor his wife, or why one should ever yearn for justice, for there are a great many animals who do quite well in eating one another alive.

Beauty, truth, and justice all belong to God, and Peter writes to us with clear instruction on how to find such things. If we want to enjoy the order of God, then we have to recognize that God is the giver of that order. In 1 Peter 21b-22 he writes: Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. Jesus is sovereign, and a fuller life is found when we appreciate His designs rather than those of the world. If we want to be a holy people who are set apart from the world, then we have to be a holy people that is set apart from the world. The deceiver wants us to be ugly and disconnected from our natural design, thereby easy prey for hell. However, dignified lives of holiness will provide protection from such snares. Therefore, let us rejoice with God in all things and aspire to be who we were created to be.

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The Labor of Jairus

Matthew 5:9 teaches us blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the Children of God. To understand this portion of the Beatitudes, we must understand peace. Peace is a reward, a treasure to cherish, a victory won after a well fought battle. In our lives we find it fleeting, temporary, and easily lost when left unattended. One does not snap their fingers and find peace simply because they choose it, but instead the riches of its goodness are all but impossible to find. For indeed, it is a prize impossible by man, but with God all things are possible.

The word peacemaker is quite precise. It is not peace-conjurers, peace-wanters, or even peace-admirers; but it is makers. The Greek word is eirenopoioi which is defined as those who bravely and assertively declare God’s terms of what makes one just and whole. It is a word that describes a person who, in the face of direct opposition and turmoil, establishes the natural and moral laws of God which alone can bring people back into a state of living just and whole lives, that is, lives of peace.

Father’s are, by both the natural and moral law assigned them as heads of households, are called to be responsible in defending, providing, and advancing all things righteous within their families and to do so even above their own self interest and well being. Should a father be righteous before God then that man is a peacemaker. He is neither passive nor immature, but affirmatively leading his family towards the goodness of God.  The role of the father, and by extension the role of men, is to be a peacemaker; and yet, every aspect of fatherhood is despised, perverted, and rejected in our modern world. Moreover, hell has prepared clever replacements for peacemaking that are so close in perception to it, things like pacifism, compliance, and agreeableness, all of which sound so inoffensive but indeed are wiles of hell to deceive the spiritual immature into believing they are virtuous while they utterly fail their children. Erroneous teachers have confused meekness with weakness, as if they two are synonyms when they are in fact antonyms; for meekness is the test of how one would use their mighty power to lay down their life for their friends, whereas weakness is a condition that never had power in the first place.

In Mark 5, Jairus the leader of the synagogue comes to Jesus in supplication over his daughter. Mark 5:22-24 (NIV) reads Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him. In our study of peacemakers, and also that of fatherhood, we find ourselves before Jairus: a man setting aside all worldly ambition to honor his duty as a father and man.

In our modern era many have been taught to be silent about politics at church, but such thinking failed to anticipate the truth that politics would not remain silent about religion. Therefore, politics has become both religious and a religion. However, this is not a unique phenomenon, for there has never been a people under the sun whose belief system was separated from their governmental structure. In the ancient Jewish world, politics and faith were betwixt as one. Jairus is a ruler of the synagogue, and giving honor to Jesus damages his political influence. It tarnishes his respect among his peers and colleagues, and could ultimately result in having his family and friends permanently shunned. Yet, his mind is not rotted by nonsense or the confusion of eggshell-trotting around how he might handle the situation without hurting anyone’s feelings. His mind is set on righteous paths. He was not created in the Image of God to labor in nonsense, but to be a Father who labors for peace.

Mark 5:35-36 (KJV) reads 35 While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? 36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. The King James Version translates the word for teacher in this passage as “Master,” denoting the messenger’s respect for Jesus. Indeed, this is a just translation for it captures the sentiment implied by the messenger’s choice of words. The messenger comes with a heavy burden of respect for Jesus, seeing Him neither as a run of the mill teacher to implore nor a celebrity to fawn over. He recognizes Jesus with severe respect, and from this fact, we can learn a great deal about how Jairus has organized his household. Jarius’ pursuit of Jesus is not out of convenience, but out of sincerity. This leader of the synagogue put aside all the worldly luxury and influence to recognize Jesus, and the word choice of the messenger shows us that this must have been going on for some period of time, because the message delivered began with the foundation that Jesus is worthy of respect Proverbs 1:7 says The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Jairus feared the Lord, and doing so opened the door of wisdom for him to lead his household well, rather than giving the false hope in his worldly credentials as ruler of the synagogue. His credentials as a ruler of the synagogue can do nothing for his daughter, and he was wise enough to admit this. Many will not.

Mark 5:37- details 37 And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. 38 And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. 39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. 40 And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. 41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. 42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. 43 And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.

The world ridiculed Jesus, for the extremity of the girl’s illness was so great, that she was regarded lost to death and professional mourners had come to stir up a maelstrom of weeping in Jairus’ house. Yet, Jesus sent them out, and took the family into the room of the girl and healed her in a way that only God could. Death does not render one just and whole, for God did not create us to be dead. Insomuch as Jesus sent out the tumult which labored around the child’s body, the Master was invited in because Jairus had already sent out the useless worldly means of salvation. Jairus did not react to this crisis by searching for hope in the political or official institutions of the world, but instead in the true authority of God.

The hour in which we live is being pummeled by the evil of fathers not being fathers and men not being men. Should we be adopted into the Kingdom of God as children, then we must assert God’s terms in the world around us. The wiles of evil are hostile, deceptive, and endlessly aggressive. Moreover, there are wanton spirits who choose the hell of eternal torment rather than service to God in heaven, and these nether spirits shake their chains of eternal torment in foul jeer of satisfaction when they see men be passive; for they do not have to even bother with waging war against the Gospel, because those who were charged with defending it laid down all on their own.

Insomuch as Jairus set his eyes on Jesus, and out of the motivation of love sought to declare the one who could actually save his daughter. While his time in the Gospel may seem brief and straightforward, we must acknowledge the truth that people overwhelmingly choose to deny both Jesus and their responsibility as fathers and men in pursuit of worldly ambitions that will never bring salvation. Proverbs 1:33 has the voice of Wisdom saying “but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” Jairus found wisdom because he recognized God. In that recognition he found the authority of God alone worthy of fear, and in turn capable of salvation. Jairus’ daughter was rewarded with safety, ease, and freedom from harm because her father went out and worked for it with Jesus. Our God is a loving and just God, who gives people the wages they have earned. Jesus is gracious and fills one’s cup till it overflows, and in His mercy gave Jairus and his family the righteous harvest for which they worked to sow. He did so to a degree beyond man’s limits. What are we prepared to sow?

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One Generation from Chaos

Read 1 Peter 2

Download a printable version here.

To begin this second chapter of Peter’s first letter, we have to understand some basic elements behind the text. The Christians receiving this letter understood that the world around them was hostile, desiring to murderously cast out the church in the same manner that they did Jesus. However, the faithful were given the gift of salvation and sanctification, and were graced with an entirely different way of living and thinking, a way of life that was the Way of Life; a way that was more free and just than any method of living produced by the depraved minds of the world. The church understood their burden to win the lost for Christ, that they were truly here to carry out the Great Commission. God chose to use the church to transform the world, and the faithful must be motivated to stand firm in lives of holiness. At the heart of both of Peter’s letters is instruction for how the church should contend for the Gospel in a hostile world without becoming monsters that cease to live in the Gospel. Holiness is the antidote to worldly chaos, and for its goodness we must labor. 

Throughout history people have been very bad at gauging what is and is not an existential threat. People have not done well at paying attention to the threats that are about to end their way of life. Peter is writing to a church who understands their constant task of defending their way of life. Furthermore, the way of life they are defending is not a worldly lifestyle that people simply inherit by way of birth, but rather the Way of Life that comes from God and requires conscious rebirth into the Kingdom of God.

Peter is writing his letter with an expectation that his audience understands the magnitude of their calling and responsibility as believers. All of them were born sinners, and their future generations will also be born sinners; therefore, they must be constantly laboring in holiness as before their children and neighbors. They must be evangelistic to the lost that they might enter into the faith. The church must always be contending for the Gospel. Do we in the modern world understand how foundational this is to our faith?

The church is not here to protect, advance, or simply be comfortable in a worldly way of life as if the worldly lifestyles have preeminent value; again, the operating word in that statement is worldly. However, we should not be confused on this matter, just because we do not grant worldly affairs the same significance as we do external affairs, this does not mean we are not contending for a way of life in the moments in which we live. God did not design his creatures to live in chaos and suffering, although he did not design us to be shy in the face of suffering either. The Way of Life, that is the Christian faith, is something we must always be contending for; moreover, we must always be looking to organize the world under the virtues of Christ.

Living with truth, honor, justice, purity, beauty, goodness and all the other Godly virtues is not the default setting for life. If it were, then Christ would not have had to come in the way He did and nor would history be so heavily marked by tyrants. The world is fallen, and we are born with a nature to sin, and our task is to actively be winning people out of worldly ways of life and continually raising generations to set aside their malice, guile, insincerity, envy, slander, and all things that can be wrapped up in the single word “depravity.” To taste goodness, to undertake the responsibility of freedom, and if one is to ever desire truth, then they must be born of God and persevere with God. If not, then their ambitions will revert to the malicious fetters of sin.

At just a year old, my little dog is always on the hunt. If he is inside at night, he hunts for socks, a stray article that has fallen to the floor, or some debris under the couch. If he is outside, he roots in the flowerpots, digs up moles, and even tries to fish in the pond. He is always on the hunt, always looking to find something over which he can claim victory. It is in his nature to hunt and conquer; likewise, it is in our nature to sin.

We are always one generation away from abject chaos. The goodness which God has in store for us, the freedom to which Christ came to deliver, these are all but one generation away from burial; for it is in the nature of the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve to spite God and cast His gifts away.

There is a lot of confusion in the modern church of what it means to respect human authority here on this earth. 2 Peter 2:13 reads for the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every human institution, whether of the emperor as supreme. There are many who will take this passage, as well as Romans 13:7, pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due, and assume it means for Christians to take a passive position in the world around us where we go along with whatever is set before us by worldly authorities. What is strange about this understanding, is that it fails to remember that both Peter and Paul, the men who wrote these words, were so unwilling to comply with the world that they were violently executed specifically for refusing to comply with the world. To believe these verses to mean that the church in all things must be compliant with the world does teach a contradiction to the cross, where Jesus was rejected for not complying, to the martyrs, to the Book of Daniel, and much more of Scripture.. Psalm 94:20 asks “shall a throne of iniquity have fellowship with Thee, which frameth mischief by law?” If one believes compliance to be the prime objective for Christians, then the answer is “yes,” God turns a blind eye to evil and doesn’t mind it at all. It is sad and immature in one’s faith to fall into this snare.

These verses instructing the church to respect human authority are meant to remind the church that we are here to be men and women of order, not men and women of rebellious chaos. When the world asks you to affirm a belief that is untrue, then no, neither Peter nor Paul would have permitted one to go along with that worldly demand. We are here to advance the Gospel and to move our world towards God’s goodness. Peter’s words remind the church to be a people of order who are not discouraged by suffering for the Gospel.

One cannot lead others towards the good by being passive, however, what we must understand is that we must walk the straight and narrow path where we are contending for the Gospel of Christ and not our own ambitions. Christians are always under an existential threat, meaning our way of life is endangered, simply because people are naturally born with a nature to sin. 

1 Peter 2 examines three different angles of the Christian life: how we relate to our faith; how our faith relates to the world; and how we should relate to the world as a people transformed in our faith. Our faith fundamentally changes how we think and navigate the world around us. There will be people who want us to leave it behind and affirm evil beliefs, but we have tasted the good and must therefore live according to Christ and not the world.

The world rejected Jesus, and is constantly and continually of a mindset to reject God, the laws of God, and even His people. People are born sinners, and the world willfully rejects Jesus. In the same way that God’s prevenient grace works in us before we know Him, so too hell comes to people to build moats of deception that preemptively turn people away from God and the good things of God.

One of the tragic consequences of our historical failure to recognize threats to our way of life is that evil is not restrained while it is still small. Therefore, the pendulum swings from a passive people to a violent people who, even if they may have started off with a noble intent, end up being the very sort of monster they sought to destroy. If one is not careful, they might stare into the void and become the void. The antidote is to set aside the malice, and to make sure our hearts are motivated by the love of God. We must contend for the Gospel, but we are here to bring order and not chaos, here to fight for beauty not the vile rot of hell.

We must also take our faith to its logical conclusion. If there are those who are lost, then there are those who are lost. Insomuch as Christ loved us when we did not love Him in return, we must love the lost and desire to pull them into the goodness which comes from Godly living. Peter’s message is beautiful and encouraging, and let us walk the straight and narrow pathway while contending for the Gospel. God chose to advance His Kingdom by giving men and women responsibility in its growth, and we must honor this responsibility. God’s justice is coming, and let us endure with holy lives worthy of Him who died for us

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Reflecting Grace & Contending for Peace

Peter opens his first letter with an address to the exiles, and this word is very particular for its emphasis on those who are cast out by all worldly authorities. It certainly evokes the massive fact that for hundreds of years the Jewish people, the chosen people of God, had neither national power nor true sovereignty on this earth. They were subjects who lived under the boot of tyrants and had no place to flee, for nowhere on this earth would afford them peace and liberty.

Now, Peter is addressing the church, those who are not chosen because they are of the bloodline of Abraham but instead are covered by the blood of Jesus. The Christians are finding themselves increasingly rejected by the world in all angles, with both the Jewish and Roman world seeking to kill them because they view the absolute goodness of Jesus as evil. Furthermore, there are even wolves within the church seeking to destroy the Gospel through all manner of deceptions.

This is the image of the church at the time of Peter’s first letter: the Christian worldview is not welcome in any public arena, people lie and slander about the church, and there are snakes within the church feeding wicked ideas to those earnestly seeking Truth. Peter’s message rings true throughout the ages because such evil times have recurred time and again; however, Peter does not write to the church that they might see themselves as victims or sad things to be pitied, but instead to encourage them to witness to Jesus Gospel by living exemplary lives. 

Peter writes that the faithful might have grace and peace in abundance. These two things are worth illuminating for they are not trite words. Grace is something which comes from God; moreover it is an attitude of being willing to give someone something they did not earn with the motivation of pulling them towards good living, where people live Godly lives as transformed men and women who think sanely with God as healthy and whole creatures. God graciously offered us salvation when we did not deserve it, and He even continues to grace us with correction rather than letting us simply reap what we sow. Therefore, we should have grace when we interact with those who are lost in the world.

Peace is Peter’s second desire for the church, and we must understand that peace is a reward that must be won. Peace is not obtained accidentally, but takes discipline and hard work to achieve; furthermore, it can only be found when evil is cast out and restrained. One cannot affirm, tolerate, or give room for evil if they want to enjoy peace. It is a reward,an effect, that must be maintained and fortified, for there are all manner of wicked connivances that come to steal away one’s peace. One cannot simply wish for peace and obtain it, but instead they must contend for it, and the only way to truly find peace is to fasten yourself to Christ Jesus. 1 John 4:4 reads You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

To begin to understand Peter’s letter, we must structure ourselves to live in a life of grace and peace. Peter teaches us to reflect the grace of God while also being people who contend for what is good and true in order that we can enjoy peace. 

1 Peter 3-12 builds upon this theme of grace and peace, for Peter reminds us that Christ was merciful enough to give us a new life that we did not deserve. All of us are born as sinners who deserve destruction, but yet God had mercy on us. Small incidents, like recieving a rude comment or being treated badly by a family member, will stir up rage in our hearts and awaken our minds to the idea of destroying another. While such wrath itself is a sin deserving of death, it is actually true that the miserable and wicked behaviors people do are indeed worthy of destruction. Such deeds destroy and therefore have earned such a fate for themselves. However, God is full of love and mercy and desires that none fall into eternal death but instead leave their misery behind through repentance.

Christ came to us that we might be shielded from the fate that we justly deserved. God was so full of mercy, that He came and suffered for us in order for us to afford us salvation. We must never forget the truth that the world is fallen and miserably wicked, and that we need salvation. The world is filled with insanity and tyranny, but through Christ we find a beautiful hope and freedom that will endure forever. The victory of Christ is so beautiful that even the Angels yearn to see the beauty of the Gospel.

Peter experienced a great amount of revelation in his life, and his teaching is entreating us to understand the cosmic aspect of both the fall and God’s salvation. In 1 Peter 1:12 he writes that even the angels long to look into these things, which of course are the gracious works of salvation brought to mankind. In the course of his letters, Peter will illuminate for the church that the extremity of the fall is so great that even angels rejected God in favor of the nether gloom beneath all worlds. Satan, the accuser, the deceiver of worlds, is such a skilled monster of corruption that he even convinced angels to consciously turn from God in Heaven.

When we truly set our minds on the hope that is found in the resurrection, the great victory of Jesus, then we set our minds on the fact that there is more to life than our time in these bodies. Acknowledging the eternal state of the soul will change how we think and live. We can become less focused on the material aspects of life and focus more on matters of the soul. We can be willing to take a few more risks. We can care less about the immediate frustrations we have with our neighbor and consider the bigger picture of their eternal soul. This focus moves us from the temporary things that are immediately before us, to the lasting things that will endure with us throughout time.

Peter wraps up his first chapter by teaching about holiness in opposition to drunkenness, rebellion, and ignorance. The world is filled with people who willfully do things which reduce their mind and sense, acts which willfully make people less than who they are capable of being. It is filled with people who consciously hate all that is good, true, and beautiful. It is filled with people who are ignorant and live in ignorance. Holiness, which comes from God alone, is the antidote to these things. If one wants to be free from the horrors of chaos in this world, then the life of holiness is the only way.

We live in an age that is becoming more and more hostile towards the faith as were the ancient times; therefore we do well to appreciate Peter’s instruction and step into this mindself of grace and peace. We must reflect the grace of God and contend for peace. Set our eyes on things above, and allow the Holy Spirit to work in us. God alone makes the good, and let us pray for revival through revelation.

[kingdomofthelogos]

The Moats of Chaos

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If we watched a little bird get hit by a car and fall limp to the ground, how many of us would even bother to halt our day and inquire of it? How many would even spare it enough thought to ponder whether or not it is still alive? Sister Iris witnessed such an event, and was surprised to see that another onlooker stopped to examine the poor animal. The creature was alive, and thus the driver took the bird into their care. Sister Iris was moved by this, for it accurately revealed a truth about God: that the Author of Life is willing to lift us up from the pits of calamity when others would move along. On this Mother’s Day, we will examine how God wants us to be victorious over the snares of tribulation, and in particular how Mary overcame the adversities of being Jesus’ mother to stand strong in the love and purpose for which she was made.

Of one thing I am now certain: that it is not enough for the devil to encourage and enjoy evil, but the deceiver is also in the business of building moats. The accuser hates all that is good and true, and does not want people to escape from the deep miry clay; therefore, the darkness of hell takes pleasure in constructing bottomless bogs. Wherein we might imagine a medieval castle fortified by a moat to dissuade intruders, we often find that moats surround the good things of God, making their reach difficult. Such moats are not necessarily sinful, but are elaborate blockades which hinder people from living with joy and righteousness.

For instance, those who are beholden to addiction find it difficult to break out of their prison because the pleasure of each hit, the withdraws, and all such shocks to the body create a moat that is too great for them to pass. Physical pain can afflict the body, and create a moat in life to separate one from joy and peace. Assignments, responsibilities, and opportunities at work can build moats that prevent one from having healthy habits and investing in things of more importance than money. Breakdowns in communication can place a moat between people who would otherwise appreciate one another. A difficulty hearing or seeing might be a moat making life harder. The abject lack of thought might be the moat preventing a wounded bird from getting help, as is the case with a great many people who slip in ruin all alone. There are a great many moats in our world, and they give pleasure to the devil and his miserable demons rather than God. 

Of all things heinous and sinister, moats have been deliberately constructed around the family structure to prevent people from stepping into the goodness of their natural design. The sinisters wiles of our modern era have replaced emphasis on the natural order with naturally felt desire; and in all things ironic, this has increased suffering rather than doing for the causes of fulfilment and lasting joy.

Genesis 2:24 renders us the institution of the family: therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. The family structure is not merely one of God’s moral laws, but it is actually one of His material laws. The biology of Adam and Eve is as material as is gravity, as true as the laws of nature which produce rain and feed the sparrows. We are now in an era where our culture is not merely rebelling against God’s moral laws, but also against His material laws, against the natural laws which govern the fabric of creation. One cannot appreciate motherhood without appreciating God’s natural law.

A moat has been set up around the family, where young people are not encouraged to have aspirations and take the responsibility of marriage, but instead are cheered on as they embrace the most desperate and uninspiring aspects of their naturally felt desires. Our culture has forgotten we are fallen creatures who naturally desire sin, and the deceiver takes joy in having a moat of ugliness prevent young people from growing up and discovering the beauty of family life. Young people are encouraged to be ugly, in every sense of the word. A lack of maturity, lack of meaningful skill, lack of responsibility, and ultimately a lack of righteous pursuit all come together to create a horrible bog that keeps young separated from the goodness of family; moreover, this moat of chaos keeps them from even desiring to pull one another up as they work through life together as young married couples. The fake virtues of political correctness have heavily contributed to this.

However, the sinister moat against the family does not stop there, for one of the most horrendous aspects of our modern culture is how the Fifth Commandment is rejected. Exodus 20:12 reads honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. God’s moral instruction is that we organize our lives to keep the order of His natural laws, and as stated earlier, family is part of God’s material order. Many neglect to take care of their elderly parents because such is not convenient or not easy. As a result, many parents are left without anything meaningful or stimulating to do, and thus are resigned to an existence which is void of the beautiful characteristics of life.

Twice in Luke Chapter 2 we are told that Mary treasures up the circumstances of Jesus in her heart. When Jesus is a baby, Luke 2:18-19 read and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The events of Jesus’ birth were filled with signs and wonders, and her task as a mother was not easy. The tyrannical Herod would issue a decree of death against all children of two years and younger, forcing Mary, Joseph, and Jesus to flee to Egypt. This terrible moat was one that threatened their lives, for it was designed to prevent Mary from fulfilling her duty in protecting the life of her child. In Luke 2:41-52 we find the second time Mary treasures things in her heart:

Luke 2:41 Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. 43 When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. 44 Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” 49 He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he said to them. 51 Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.

Jesus is fully God and fully man, and it was not easy for Mary to raise a child of such favor. Not only did she have to content with the moat of murderous ambitions against her Son, but she also had to deal with the moat of peculiarity. Jesus’ wisdom was amazing, and it could not be explained by conventional knowledge. Even at an early age, the Christ found Himself interacting with the Jewish teachers and rulers. Some, like Herod, wanted to kill Him. Others, like those who talked with Him in the Temple, were astonished by His words.

John 19:25b-27 reads meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. It is perhaps here that we find the most serious of all moats, for the chasm of death has drawn near to separate Mary from her precious Son. All she had so far experienced would now seem pale, for now the impassable wedge of death had come to steal her child away, and to do so under the guise of lies, deceit, and abominable injustice.

Yet, in these final hours, Mary stood faithful by Jesus, crossing the blackest of moats to be with her Son during His final breaths. We must understand that Jesus truly died on the cross, and Mary fully experienced the death of her Son. This evil, this wretchedness, this foul machination, was the final moat for this mother; and, being faithful to the design for which she was created and chosen, she crossed it with an irrevocable love. For at the cross was the ultimate ugliness, the final exercise in hideous rebellion wherein God Himself would be killed; yet, simultaneously was the perfect love of God, the true love of a mother. At the cross we find a unique perfection between Mary and Jesus, for not only was the Author of life displaying the love which motivated Him to create, but we also find a creature perfecting the love for which she was made. Mary stood as the Mother of Jesus, the Mother of God the Son, and she persevered with dignity and love that must be acknowledged.

Genesis 1:27 reads: so God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. As part of the natural order and natural law, God wove into our design a unique ability to reflect His love. However, many moats have fortified us against this goodness since the fall. The modern culture that discourages family life is wretched and evil, for it tears corruption against God’s material law to create chaos and suffering. The idolatrous god of our age, our modern culture, builds moats to separate people from the goodness God has in store for them, hoping to ensure they would never be pulled out. Let us stand firm in declaring the goodness of God, and reach out to pull our neighbors from the deep miry clay.

[kingdomofthelogos]

Real Holiness Is Not an Act

Read Mark 12

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Mark 12:38-44 offers us two distinct images of how people try to grasp the Kingdom of God: there are the scribes who seek attention but have no real goodness in their hearts, yet a humble widow is faithfully running her race well. For those who boast through moral scams which make them appear more virtuous than they really are, they will receive a severe condemnation for their wickedness. However, God is blessed by those who are willing to entrust their livelihood to him. The harder one tries to grip the Kingdom of God with greedy and untrue fingers, the more they will find it slipping away; but those who come to God in honest supplication will find a greater freedom than the world could ever offer. 

Christian living presents us with many seemingly paradoxical things, such as the teaching that those who seek to save their lives will lose it while those who lose their life for Christ will find it, those who seek to be great will be last and those who seek to serve will be great, those who suffer will find joy, and even the idea that those who love God above their neighbor will actually end up loving their neighbors more than if they had placed them first. Romans 8:13 embodies many of these seemingly contradictory statements: for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. The reason why these things often seem paradoxical is because they are taken out of order, and once we recognize they are a part of an order of importance, then they start to make good sense.

Putting ideas in their proper order is very important to holy living. Moreover, it is very important to truthful and critical thinking. The reason why a great many things are untrue is because they are out of place. It is true that fruit is good for food; however, for Adam and Eve that fact was beneath the rule God set against a tree. Therefore, removing the idea that fruit is good for food from its place in God’s order can open the door for sin, and it can do so while sounding completely correct.  2 Corinthians 6:16-18 teaches an order of God’s Temple: I will live in them and walk among them,  and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.17 Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean;  then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be your father, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” This passage exemplifies the important order of how we are adopted into God’s Family and how He wants to dwell among us so that we can be clean and whole.

Romans 8:14-17 reads: 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 It is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. This passage illustrates the goodness of being adopted into the Family of God. God’s love desires us to be family who persevere together and thereby become joint heirs with Christ. The purpose of God’s love is not to take away our mirrors, but to make us look at who we are so that we can overcome the failures in our lives and be reborn with Christ who is without sin.

Revelation 20:4 paints a picture of what holy people really look like: Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Do we think that Jesus has raised unholy people from the dead? That He chose unreliable people who preferred to appear holy rather than actually live faithful lives? That He found souls of those who were nominally Christian to reign with Him? No. Clearly, Jesus has chosen holy people; moreover, the standard for holiness here is of a people who were willing to stand with Jesus against idolatry all the way to the point of death. This might seem simple, but it is very rare that people are willing to do this. 

2 Corinthians 7:1 states since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God. With this both verse and Revelation 20:4 in mind, let us return to the Widow in Mark 12. She was willing to trust her livelihood to God, and Jesus does not even specify what her reward will be in return. Not only does Jesus abstain from specifying her reward after the faithful deed, nothing was said about a potential reward before the act either. She has put aside all temptations to hold on her own livelihood and trust her life to God. Just as those in Revelation trusted their souls to God in rejection of the beast and its image, this widow displayed such holy commitment.

Holiness calls us to entrust our livelihoods to God. We might debate about what temperament, education, and stories of discipleship we possess, but Scripture teaches us that when the hour draws nigh, there are many more people who possess the appearance of holiness than there are people who will actually trust their lives to God. There are more people who can recite correct doctrine than there are those that can live it, there are more who can sound polite in public than those who will stand firm when the hour is late. Both the Widow and those beheaded by the beast exemplify this truth.

When we observe how many stay beside Christ on the cross we find this fact again, for only a handful of women and two men were willing to stand by the Lord in His hour of death; furthermore, the two men, being Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, were described as being a secret disciple and one who came by night. They may not have sounded like the most faithful based on their personal histories, biographies, and credentials; yet, when the hour came they were the only two men who stood. We do well to appreciate the magnitude of trusting one’s life to God, and that real holiness does not founder when the hour is late.

It is one thing to think about the Law, Scripture, or even the Christian disciplines in theory, but it is another thing to truly live them in the world around us. It is not uncommon for people to fall short near the finish line, for people to grow weary in the dark valley. Yet, the widow was faithful; moreover, being a widow she is neither wealthy nor likely to be young. She is running her race well and seeing it through to the end. Her story is very much like Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac, or Jochebed lowering the infant Moses in the water. To truly trust your livelihood to God is a scarce act.

Those who try to hold on to their lives, to declare themselves to be a god who is capable of defining what is and is not good and true, they will find themselves separated from goodness and truth. Those who try to grasp wealth and hold onto will find their hands empty. Even those who try to cling onto the Kingdom of God using their terms rather than respecting God’s order, they will find it to have slipped through their fingers. Yet, those who are willing to conform their will to Christ in rejection of their self-proclaimed ambitions and ungodly wiles, they will find joy that can never be stolen.

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Dangerous Power of Holiness

Read Mark 11:13-26

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To truly appreciate the love of God and the holiness to which we are called, then we must understand the dangerous and compelling nature of God. The heavenly throne above all worlds is not safe, but the power of God desires that we find repentance rather than destruction. The curse of the fig tree in Mark 11 is not a random or senseless condemnation, but Jesus paying the tree the wages it earned by pretending to bear fruit when it did not. Furthermore, Jesus uses the tree as an opportunity to call His followers to have honest faith in God, for doing so will bless them with the dangerous goodness of God which can move mountains.

Isaiah 6:1-8 reads In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;

    the whole earth is full of his glory.”

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

The prophet beholds the dangerous presence of God, whose appearance is so powerful that the seraphs must cover their feet and faces to avoid destruction. To even declare His holiness shakes the structure of creation’s most perfect architecture.

When Isaiah witnesses God without any blinders or veils which might lessen his view, his immediate words are “I am ruined!” Different translations might approach this by saying “I am undone,” or “I am lost,’ but the Hebrew “damah,” is a word which means irrevocable destruction. The prophet recognizes the truth that God is too dangerous to even lay eyes upon.

Yet, the One whose beauty alone can destroy hates destruction, and desires goodness and redemption for His creatures. Isaiah finds himself in an hour from which there is no escape, and yet a burning coal is placed on his mouth to render him clean and sufficient to endure in God’s presence.

The imagery around the curse of the fig tree is neither passive nor casual, but instead  the message is overwhelmingly fatal. Ranging from the plain notion of withering to the extraordinary notion of a mountain being tossed into the sea, these are images of finality, conditions from which one cannot escape. In the midst of such heaviness comes the Gospel truth: that if one abides faithfully with God, then they will be graced beyond measure; however, those with impure hearts will receive their earnings in full and meet an irreparable end.

The fig tree is placed in an urgent moment, for there is no opportunity for it to return to a comfortable state of idleness. It must either bear fruit, or accept the curse for its dishonesty. Moreover, dishonesty is a prominent aspect of the fig tree’s failure, for it is displaying prominent leaves as if they were actually bearing fruit. From a distance, the tree has all of the visual aspects correct to suggest it is doing what it is supposed to do. However, upon close examination one finds that there is nothing really happening.

The fig tree is bearing false witness about its life, just as there are many people who prefer to appear virtuous rather than actually be virtuous. There are many who desire the approval of the world, to be viewed as activists and caring people who are dedicated to particular causes; yet, when one looks beneath the facade there is nothing good happening.

Romans 6:23 read for the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Wages are earnings and not gifts. We must understand that death is earned by sin, it is the necessary and correct reward for the aberrations which grate chaos against the created order of God. The fig tree bore false witness about its virtue, it claimed to be producing something good when in fact it was doing nothing. It was running a scam, misleading others and taking up space that could be given to a more honest tree. As a result, it earned its death, and the withering curse was the true seed of its dishonest actions.

Genesis 1:1-4 reads In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. We must understand that creation is not tame, and nor is the goodness which God spoke. In order for there to be anything of value, anything of meaning, there must be an extraordinary amount of power binding it in shape to prevent it from collapsing back to the void. One might wonder why the forces of nature are so extraordinarily powerful, but the throne above all worlds is dangerous and unsafe. Moreover, even what we consider to be the slightest of sins can mangle creation’s great power into meaningless suffering.

There are many who find it difficult to understand what it means to fear God. Moreover, there are a great many theologians of our modern era who churn over ways of interpreting and translating this concept so that they might discover some relevant understanding. There is a simple reason why people find it difficult to understand fear of God: they have forgotten how absolutely dangerous He is.

When Jesus curses the fig tree in Mark 11, we are reminded that the power of God is a serious affair. Our modern world has conjured up the fake virtue of living “judgement free,” but what this often means practically is to live without standards or upward aspirations. The call of Christ saves us from the condemnation of sin, but expects us to live holy lives which reflect Christlike love. The One whose face could destroy Moses if he were not hidden in the cleft of a rock actually wants to love and bless Moses. Furthermore, God does not want to use His power to destroy us, but to call us to a higher standard of living that can only be found through His truth.

Proverbs 1:7 states that fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, and truly, when we recognize how severe God’s danger is then suddenly the dark valleys around us do not have such weight. Moreover, once we realize that God’s dangerous and compelling nature is to love us and call us to His Kingdom, then we can be liberated from the wiles of chaotic, evil, and petty living.

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Rise up in Victory

Read Mark 10

Download a printable version here.

We have many figures who model different character traits for us. We might think of David modeling courage in the face of Goliath, Ruth modeling loyalty when the world did not expect it, Daniel modeling discernment in the face of confusion, or perhaps Rahab showing hospitality against national odds. When we think of mercy and compassion, who is the first role model we imagine?

In Mark 10:47-48 the blind man Bartimaeus is calling out for mercy, and Jesus shows us how Godly compassion responds to a situation. Christ does not encourage Bartimaeus to remain in his state of wailing, but rather commands him to boldly rise up and answer God’s call to virtue. This is the victorious and hope-filled compassion of God, for God desires we rise up with eternal life in Him. 

Doctor Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute developed an unmanned deep sea sled known as Argo; in simple terms, Argo is a remote operated submarine with a video camera to examine the ocean floor. Argo’s purpose was to descend into the deep to take pictures and videos of places that man has no power to otherwise go. The undersea craft has been instrumental in discovering famous shipwrecks such as the Titanic and Bismarck. Argo cannot do anything about the sad wrecks it observes, but simply takes pictures and videos so that people on the surface can tell the story of what they found. 

It is easy for us to think of compassion like Argo, where mercy and empathy are used to observe the depths of a sad situation, but nothing is actually done to remedy the problem. When Jesus hears Bartimaeus’ call for mercy, the Messiah does not simply send Argo to go visit the blind man to view the situation so the story can be retold. Instead, Jesus shows real compassion, which is filled with upward aspirations, transformation, and goodness.

In Mark 2:9 Jesus says “Which is easier, to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’?” In truth, both of these are hard to say, and it is much easier to send Argo to the scene than it is to bring about good transformation. It is much easier to observe and retell a story than it is to actually pull someone out from the pits of deep miry clay.

Bartimaeus is specifically calling out for pity; moreover, he calls out twice as to indicate the great severity of his desire. Jesus’ response is a command to raise up and be bold. Furthermore, Jesus follows up these two commands with the heavy words of “he calleth thee.” There is much we can examine from studying both sides of this interaction.

Bartimaeus has found himself where many, perhaps all, fallen creatures find themselves at one time or another. He is in a dark valley and desires mercy and pity. Let us not be confused about the language here, the verb “eleeo” which is used in this passage is a clear request for pity. The blind man sees himself as a sad thing to be pitied, and has called on the Messiah to do something for him.

Suffering is an immovable fact of life after the fall from the Garden, and many people view themselves as sad things to be pitied. Moreover, our modern day and age encourages people to develop their entire understanding of life around sadness, victimhood, and desperation. This is a very unfortunate and undignified manner to live, for not only does it fail to reflect God’s Image but it is completely without hope. This is not new, and idolatry is often wrapped up in the pursuit of having a god that will give one pity on the terms they like.

Interestingly, Bartimaeus' cry for pity is not one that is lamentation for the sake of lamentation. He actually recognizes Jesus as the Messiah, and respects Him to have the authority to aid him in his plight. In response, Jesus issues two commands: take courage, and rise up. The first command used is “tharsei,” which is a verb demanding courage, boldness, and good countenance. With this specific choice of word, Jesus is demanding a temperamental change in the poor beggar. The second command is “egeire,” which means to rise up, and Jesus’ usage of the world cannot be misinterpreted, for He is demanding the man to pick himself up and stand with dignity.

There is a broader examination to give this command for rising up, for the same word will also be used when Jesus heals people and teaches about resurrection. There is great hope built in this word, and it accompanies the power of God to conquer all sufferings of the world, including death. This word is New Testament language for victory, and not for a fleeting moment either, but victory that raises the dead for eternity.

 Revelation 11:1 details John being instructed to rise up using this word, the text reads: and there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. Here we find the Kingdom of God again commanding one to rise up, go out and live, labor, and discover the truth of God. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and He has not hid Himself away that we might be lost in mires of pity, but that we might know Him and enjoy the assurance of His hope.

Our modern world, which has made an idol out of victimhood, finds it repulsive to be called to Godly virtue, and thereby would find it cruel that Jesus’ response to a poor man is to rise up and take a bold countenance. However, what Jesus’ words are not words of cruelty, but rather of hope, victory, and goodness. Jesus calls him to move upward, and Bartimaeus responds to this with obedience. Jesus heals him, telling him that his faith made him well. Bartimaeus' faith led him to raise up with courage, thereby blessing him with the irrevocable joy of God’s Kingdom.

There is victory when Jesus speaks the word “egiere,” for the power to rise is not limited to Mark 10, but will be found for eternity. There is good news in the command to rise up, for it is not a suggestion in the Kingdom of God, but a fact of eternal life. There is good news that we will be able to see our loved ones again who have fallen asleep in the Lord, there is good news that we shall rise again with new bodies, and there is good news that a new heaven and new earth shall be raised where the righteousness of God endures forever.

Jesus models for us real compassion, and His ministry is meant to shape who we are today. Jesus’ healings and teachings are meant for us, not just people in the past, and they should shape how we live here and now. We are called to labor in this life, and we can rest assured there will be dark valleys. However, victory endures with God, and there will be rising. This is good news.

As we reflect on Jesus’ interaction with Bartimaeus, we must learn to embody compassion that firmly calls people to rise up and look towards Christ. Jesus is firm, but full of mercy. He does not avoid the suffering, nor leave it to fester. He faces it straight on and paves victory through the curse. If we are to be Christlike people, then we must also face problems in our world with the hope and victory of the Gospel that seeks to overcome rather than to fall to desperation. Let us end with Jesus' words in Matthew 28:20 “and remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

[kingdomofthelogos]

The Light of Life

Read Mark 9:1-29

Download a printable version here.

Scripture teaches us a great many things by weaving together various images and comparisons. As we study Mark 9:1-29, we are going to examine three principal scenes: a message from Jesus, the transfiguration, and the healing of a demonic possession. The first scene will offer us a thread that we will use to pull together our successive two scenes, all with the goal of learning how the Kingdom of God radiates light in opposition to death.

The first scene we behold is found in Mark 9:1, where Jesus preaches: “truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Kingdom of God when it has come with power.” This sermon is short, but very deliberate. One might think to be a simple timetable by which Jesus has scheduled His ministry. While this is certainly true, I want us to step into a broader truth, to behold the order of things which Jesus is establishing. 

The Christ illustrates for us how the power of the Kingdom of God comes first, and such holiness is opposed to death. The power of God’s Kingdom is of a higher order than death for those who stand near it, and its beauty is so close that it can truly be witnessed. Although this first scene is short, let us fasten ourselves to its thread as we pull it through our Gospel lesson.

The second scene takes place six days later when Jesus leads Peter, James, and John up a high mountain to witness wondrous transfiguration. While there are an endless number of messages we might have in regards to the significance of the prophets, let us direct our attention to the description of Jesus’ clothing in Mark 9:3 which the NASB reads as and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. What is so peculiar about Jesus' garment is that their account is given the careful application of a verb, the part of speech denoting an action. In Greek we find “stilbo,” which is a verb meaning to shine, to radiate. These clothes are not merely in a state of being clean, but are actively doing something. They are stirring with light, invigorated with energy that beams over the world from Jesus.

How often do we describe our clothing with verbs? Generally we describe garments as being clean or dirty, nice or worn out, or perhaps we might describe their composure with words like blue or red, casual or dressy. Such descriptions are not verbs, for we generally describe our wardrobes using adjectives and the occasional noun. Moreover, if we do ever describe an article of clothing with a verb it tends to be the unfortunate verb of “stinking.” The reason for this is simple: our dress is capable of doing very little on its own aside from repeating our own repulsive permeations.

Where uncleanliness is the common attire of fallen man, the Son of Man is capable of something aspirational, something altogether different. For when Jesus steps to the mountain even His tunic is commanding, for not only will the rocks cry should God’s creatures fail to give Him glory, but the very tunic He wears radiates with light. This is not a grotesque reflection like the soilings we leave on our worldly linens, but this is the active and alive radiation of light that is decreed by everything belonging to the King of Kings. Death does not radiate, the void found in Genesis 1:2 does not radiate, the nether gloom beneath all words does not radiate, but the Light of the World does. The Word of God spake and light came forth; furthermore, when the new heaven and new earth arrive there will be no more night, for the light of God shall reign eternal. As 1John 1:5 reads God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. This is what happens when the Kingdom of God draws nigh: the Light radiates.

The third scene we shall examine is that of the demon possessed child. The sad life of this youth is one continually tormented with images of total destruction. We imagine near-death experiences wherein one’s life might flash before their eyes, perhaps even seeing a bright light, and this passage of Scripture reveals to us a child who has been continually thrust before the face of death. Yet, these were not glimpses of a bright light, for the heinous near-death images which the youth endured were labors from below rather than above. In Mark 9:21-22 the father explains to Jesus that “from childhood it has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to kill him.”

It is difficult to appreciate the terrible nightmare of having a demon seize your body and use your own muscles to plunge you near a torturous demise. However, Scripture does hide from us the mystery and ugliness of this scene: the demon wanted to take its captive all the way to the edge of life and make him peer into the darkness. This child’s tongue was led to the brink of extermination where he might taste the vile rot of sin’s true wage, all while a prisoner to an untouchable monster who would never let him go, but would instead repeat the sinister tease without end. Furthermore, the idea of lifelessness had so defined this child’s existence that even after being healed his neighbors can only see death in him. 

However, that taste of death which he had assuredly endured, was replaced by radiance from on high, for the Kingdom of God cast out the darkness. Jesus’ good news is that the Kingdom’s power is far greater than death. This is not a philosophy or creed, but a material act of grace that affords liberty for a fettered child. God’s power cannot abide the darkness, and with gracious illumination it reveals to us an entirely different image. The child is no longer thrashing about, but now covered by the light which has come unto him. When the providential mercy of God’s Kingdom draws near, its freedom beckons as a rod and staff to pull the lost children from the valley of the shadow of death. Jesus did not avoid the dark valley, but pierced through it with forward confrontation to grace us with life. 

Pulling the thread through all of our scenes, we find ourselves blessed by the grace of God. The power of God’s Kingdom beckons to us that we might aspire higher, that our lives might be transformed to stand just and whole before the God of all Creation. The transfiguration was not displayed that God might witness to Himself, but that man might be covered by the gracious cast of His Light. The child was not delivered so that God the Son might impress God the Father, but so the goodness of God might defeat the darkness which destroys the lost children from within. Let us again return to Jesus’ message in Mark 9:1 reading “truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Kingdom of God when it has come with power.” This hope did not remain on a tent on a mountain, or in a town with a bewildered crowd, but rather it beckons true for you. On this day, we have the gracious opportunity to behold God’s Kingdom; therefore, let us do so with the love of Christ in our hearts.

[kingdomofthelogos]

And God Knew (Easter)

Wherein Adam occasioned himself passive while his wife took the poison,

The Last Adam, the Begotten Son, never degraded His countenance with sin,

Wherein aversion to pain and virtue tore corruption on the souls of God’s reflection,

The Christ paved through the poison so great a victory as is eternal life,

Wherein sinful hearts demanded life from their brothers for a trite nothing in return,

The Truth laid down His life for His friends to impart them all things good and beautiful,

Wherein the early children, seized by thievish wiles, sought towers to steal the throne,

The Faithful and True tamed the dangerous seat into the Son of Man for children to know,

Wherein those sad residents of desolate wilderness saw dust as their legacy,

The Master counted their children as numerous as the stars.

For the One whose likeness is jasper and carnelian looked upon His Children,

And God knew.

Wherein liberated captives would cry for graves under tyranny,

The Lord God Almighty would press them through the wilderness in search of righteous dignity,

Wherein fools would long for derelict idols from across the flood,

The Lord of Hosts would raise prophets proclaiming “choose ye this day,”

Wherein hearts of unreason would fancy fickle rulers over unwavering faithfulness,

The Lord Our Righteousness would stir kings after His own heart,

Wherein kings would work lust over holy pursuit,

The Lord Who Sanctifies would exalt noble queens to live as they might perish,

Wherein exile would deride the ambitions of the haughty,

The Master would grant learning to those who sought Him,

For the One whose temple shakes thunder at His voice looked upon His Children,

And God knew.

Wherein the world sought insight, riches, and formulations,

Heaven came before shepherds with the hard truth of a Child,

Wherein heads of decay sat underscored by platters of carnal power,

The One who is Emmanuel spake “this illness does not lead to death,”

Wherein earthen wisdom knows not what is true,

The Incarnate Word gleamed the Way, the Truth, and the Life,

Wherein hands sufficient to hold palm branches would fall into cries for crucifixion,

The Alpha and Omega said “for this cause came I unto this hour,”

Wherein the world was death and all of its irreparable indignation,

The Son endured for absolute victory and broke forth from an empty tomb,

For the One whose judgement dissolves heavens and earth looked upon His Children,

And God knew.

Wherein passage through the dark valley is to heavy for souls to afford,

The Holy Spirit descends with the rod and staff to sanctify with endurance,

Wherein the days and hours pine in idleness,

With the Lord a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day,

Wherein angels might chose chains of eternal torment

The Lord desires for none to perish but all to come into repentance,

Wherein beast arise from the nether gloom beneath all worlds,

The blade of Heaven shall cast them into the burning lake of brimstone,

Wherein the Garden’s exiles toil tear and death, sorrow and crying, and all such wages of pain,

I Am shall speak new heaven and earth where He shall dwell with them in unending goodness,

For the One who spake the heavens and the earth looked up His Children,

And God knew.

[kingdomofthelogos]

Palm Sunday

Read Mark 11:1-11

Download a printable version here.

John 12:27 reads 27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. In this, Jesus exemplified the full index of Philippians 4:8 which reads: finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. The character of Christ embodied these irrevocable virtues. This is why Christ came and this is the path He walked, despite being both tempted by the devil to serve evil rather than good, and expressed in the garden the anxious lament of a heart burdened with suffering. Jesus knew the price and chose to pay it out of love. What then do we choose in response?

Jesus is consistently the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and He was teaching this even as He went to the cross. When Christ tells the disciples to go and find a colt, they are challenged to go out into the world and see if the truth of Jesus is in fact reliable. This is not just a philosophical teaching, or some moral principle which was disconnected from the world. The instructions to gather the young donkey were centered around a material reality. God wants His children to step out into the world, and use their free will to discover how reliable God’s path really is. God wants us to be able to trust Him, to have assurance that what He says is true.

The character of God is both good and reliable, even though it is dangerous and sovereign in its own time. However, man’s will is quite fickle, being swayed by all manner of vices and desires. As we examine Holy Week, and ponder the events from the Triumphant Entry of Palm Sunday to the Crucifixion on Good Friday, we can see a change happen with how people respond to Jesus. Many are singing hosannas and waving palm branches when Jesus enters Jerusalem. Yet, many of these same people will be crying out “crucify Him” within a week’s time. What will change within the week? Did Jesus change, like a politician who said one thing when running for office but then did something different after obtaining that power? No, Christ did not undergo such a change, for it was not Jesus who changed His position, but the people who were in Jerusalem.

We all understand that different moments bring out different parts of our character. Depending on our various temperaments and personalities, some of us are entertained by things that bore others, and some of us are easily frustrated by things that others can endure without breaking a sweat. We know that each one of us as individuals can behave very differently depending on the moment in which we dwell. Yet, each of us are but one individual, and we have a single soul that is attached to all of our thoughts and actions.

So then, who really were the people in Jerusalem that week when Jesus was crucified? The two images they present are irreconcilable.  Their first image is so full of praise at the Triumphant Entry, but their second is so heinous at the Cross. These do not appear to be images of the same people, but yet they are.

We are not made good by our own power or intentions, and none of us are free from deception. As difficult as it may seem to think that the same people were so reverent one moment would be monsters the next, we must understand it is true. Scripture does not lie to us about our own depravity. Rather, it challenges us to accept Christ that we may overcome it. 1 John 5:4 encourages for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Being born of God is necessary to maintain the path of goodness, to endure the Way of Life.

Joshua 24:15 famously says and if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. We live in the era after the fall but before the Judgement of the living and the dead. Moreover, we are blessed to live in the era when Christ has died and resurrected, making us fully able to live in the Kingdom’s salvation, although the Kingdom has not completely come in its fullness. We must choose this day whom we will serve, and whom we will be.

All of life in this fallen era is lived in the valley of the shadow of death; however, it does not have to be lived in death. We must choose whom we will serve. Will we be those who sing hosanna before the Master of all creation? Will we be those who cry “crucify Him?” Perhaps we might be those who passively go along with the crowd and do whatever is popular at the time, a miserable attitude which always leads to death, even if it is not obvious.

We cannot give account for the specific souls who appeared to love Jesus sincerely at the start of Holy Week but then rejected Him so absolutely by the end; but, by the grace of God, we are not asked to give account for another’s soul. However, we will have to give account for our own, and we have graciously been given the opportunity to choose, to willfully conform our sovereign will to our Maker, who will give us more liberty, wisdom, and sanity than we could ever afford on our own.

There is no lukewarm pathway where one cannot choose, for the cosmic principalities have a wanton desire to destroy. We are born in a state of disrepair, under the curse of sin and death. However, we do not have to remain in this condition. 2 Peter 3:17 warns us saying therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. We must embrace Christ and His irrevocable love, that we may live holy lives where we can think clearly and see life as God wants us to see it, where we can really love God and our neighbor, and enjoy life in the Kingdom of God which will never fail. 

[kingdomofthelogos]

No Greater Love

Read Mark 8

Download a printable version here.

To begin our message, let us consider the words of Mark 8:2, whence Jesus chronicles the noble allegiance that stirs His compassion: “for they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat.” The crowds that pursued Him were burdened with hunger, having sacrificed the earthly certainty of their next meals in order that they have the greater certainty of time with the Master. 

We know that “no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,” for John 15:13 assures us of this immovable truth. When we consider the hunger endured for three days by those crowds who sought Jesus in Mark 8, let us then ponder how much greater the love of God Himself to undertake three days in death. Being truly dead one is in hunger for life itself, but Jesus undertook this sacrifice to accomplish so perfect a victory that it excelled anything our world has seen.

Let it be known that God hates death, taking no joy in the suffering and chaos of our world. But despite His great hatred for death and suffering, let us not think Him afraid of them. Inasmuch as through His Word the heavens and earth wove together, so also through the power of His Word was victory found over fallen man’s final calamity. This Word came to us, made itself flesh in the man of Christ Jesus.

The modern church spends a great deal of time deconstructing those around Jesus and dismantling their character. However, let today be inspired by the loyal perseverance which moved our Lord to have compassion on His dear creatures. The crowds displayed a sacrifice, giving up the ordinary circumstances of life which would have likely sustained them in order that they might gain some proximity to God, to obtain a higher assurance in His truth.

There are a lot of questions we might wonder about the crowds and their motivations. Were these crowds truly of faith, were they sanctified that they might not fall back into sin? Or were they just here for a good show? The exact conditions of their hearts we cannot obtain, but we know that they, like all Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve, are indeed fallen creatures prone to sin. We know that the Holy Spirit had not yet come in its fullness as on the day of Pentecost. Notwithstanding these truths, we also know that the Lord who knows all things saw their hungered state and was sincerely moved to stand for them against the wiles of death as their advocate.

Moreover, just as Jesus would stand for them in order to prevent their starvation, He would ultimately stand for them in order to prevent their eternal condemnation. But let us not be confused, God does not desire that His children be condemned, for He has never desired such irrevocable terror. 

Our world is plagued by a curse which we have no power to revoke. Yet, the great Master has had compassion on us and desired to relieve us of its burden. He is the Master who laid down His life for the servant.

As we discussed last week, the fiends of hell take joy in having people believe the darkness within them is light. Every major and minor issue discussed on our planet is designed in such a way that truth cannot be ascertained, but the only result which can be effected is war between tribes. Political tribes, ethnic tribes, material wealth tribes, and so forth and so on. Perhaps the most despicable work of evil is how many people sincerely believe the darkness in them is light, people who pervert the Gospel of Christ to attain unrighteous control over others. There is great confusion about what is good and true, and what is deceptive and evil. These words are coupled together deliberately. Deception, from Genesis to Revelation, is always a critical part of evil. Whether in the Garden with Eve sincerely believing her conversation with the snake is of no major consequence, or the beast worshippers in Revelation 13 firmly believing they are on the right side of history. Our modern age has bought the foolish idea that in order to be deceived then one must feel like they are deceived.

In our day, there are many things in which only one viewpoint is permitted. Often, people are told they need not speak of something that might be offended, put something on or take something down that might make someone else more comfortable out of respect. But let this be known and let it be certain: it is not grace if grace is only granted one way. It is not respect when only one viewpoint is permitted, especially when that viewpoint is the dominant one of the fallen world, which is neither sanctified in its worldly offices nor saved by its intentions. That is not respect which is demanded, although many will sincerely believe it is, but truly a behest for submission to an idol, it is malice well dressed as modesty. It is malice of the most sinister dimension, a darkness which has convincingly masked itself as the light, a task often accomplished by perverting the truth or making it unattainable by way of official knowledge. Without choice, it is not real virtue.

There are no magic rules, and there is no lukewarm sanctuary where all will be comfortable and at peace. In a fallen world, every decision will offend someone. Therefore, when the call beckons, it is best that one be found standing with the one who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We must have grace and mercy and be willing to yield, but firm and unmoving when asked to bear false witness. It is moral bankruptcy to deconstruct without a greater motivation to build up the good, and it is the work of satan to accuse without warrant. I am quite often shocked by how little discernment is found in our age, much of which I do not consider a sincere lack of discernment but rather a lack of courage to stand for what is true; a willingness to turn a blind eye to things preferred not to be true, and a willingness to sit idle as to avoid suffering. 

We live in an era which has perhaps the least amount of people concerned with the spiritual warfare which preys upon every soul, and yet we are also in an era which has the fruits of spiritual warfare made more obvious than any time before. One may be distracted by questioning the exact location are the demons, the presence of those fomenting contortionists, but in pursuit of that specific image one might fail to look in the mirror of our society and see that people have not the slightest idea who they are at even the visceral level of being made fully in the Image of God as a man or woman. There is not the slightest idea of how to value a child of God based solely on the irrevocable value of life, life that was so precious to God that it was worth Him dying in order to make available its communication with eternity.

In our age, noble courage is not exemplified on its principle, but always through corrupt schemes to taint the great virtues of God with personal interests and political theater. Those wretched intruders who stole into God’s set apart family have indeed perverted the grace of our God into licentiousness. Everything we do is reduced down to an ever unsatisfying sensation in exchange for nothing that will matter for more than a moment aside from those cursed side effects which attach themselves to the soul.

The Pharisees of Mark 8 demanded a sign, and let us ponder for a moment what sign is. A sign is not a thing in and of itself, but a marker which indicates another thing. When you see a sign for a street, the piece of metal is not what one travels but instead the road which the sign describes. When one hears the ringing of the phone, it is not a sign of the sound that asks for one’s attention but the conversation of which the sign makes you aware. The world loves signs more than it does truth, virtue signals and scams more than virtue itself.

Signs are secondary affairs, not the primary item of our interest. Considering this fact, we realize the Pharisees are not truly asking for the Kingdom of God, but instead for something much lessor. Moreover, in wanting the lesser thing they have forsaken that which is greater. They are, to use an imperfect illustration, like someone who might trip over a dollar to pick up a penny. 

Jesus, however, is not interested in the secondary things which often fixate the world. Instead, He is sincere. Rather than showing us a sign He actually shows us the Kingdom of God. The love which His imperfect creatures impress upon Him in Mark 8:2 is returned immediately with daily bread, but eternally with the River of Life.

In Genesis 22:1-19, we find the Sacrifice of Isaac, where Abraham is willing to forfeit the peaceful comfort of life with his son for some greater thing which God might have for him. On the face of it, this story might seem initially horrifying. However, God has never been in the business of loving death, but wanted to teach Abraham that if he really wants true goodness in life, for himself and his children, which includes Isaac, then they are going to have to fully entrust their lives to God. They are going to have to set aside the certainty of their small things for the eternal certainty of God. Abraham has to set aside his will for the teachings of God.

The principle of the Sacrifice of Isaac is quite simple. It is a question of courage to step into the broader truer life with God, even though it does not appear obvious on the front end. The courage found in the Sacrifice of Isaac was the same faith which embraced Jochebed as she placed Moses in a basket and entrusted him to God. It was the same virtue through which Esther stood before the throne of Persia, and Nehemiah who left the certainly of his servanthood to dawn the blood and sweat of Jerusalem. Ultimately, and incomparably, Jesus would show us the real manifestation of this courage when He descended into death, leaving the certainty of life, that He might come out victorious. The Lord has provided many times, but He expects His creatures to put forth effort and sacrifice the easiness of the world for the great charge of the Kingdom.

Those crowds who came with Jesus in Mark 8 possessed a willingness on some level to sacrifice the certainty of the world for the greater certainty of God. We now live in an age with barely any certainty at all. Therefore, it is all the more important that we should find it in our hearts, not the certainty of our design or even that of the world, but that which is of God. God has placed on this earth, that we might live honorably as His creatures who reflect His Image.

Our world is fallen, and I charge us today, rather than merely seeking to show signs to our world, that we aspire to raise up noble courage in our hearts to trust the great virtues of God in the world around us. Our world has designed its wiles and schemes in such a way that truth cannot be determined, that people cannot even understand what is good and true. Therefore, we must do the good work of the Kingdom and declare what is good and true, take the leap of faith which puts a real sacrifice on the line in assurance that our God is as noble as He revealed Himself to be.

[kingdomofthelogos]

The Devilish Letter of Feofar Gone

Read Mark 7

Download a printable version here.

In Mark 7:1-23, Jesus addresses the question of what really defiles a person, and this is a larger question than it might immediately appear. This is not just a question of how one navigates the technicalities of the Jewish law, but a question of what makes people good and what makes people evil. This question is fundamental to how people view the world, and although it is rarely stated out loud, this question undergirds every aspect of society.

Our message is taking a turn, for rather than hearing a message from a pastor’s perspective we return to Goblin Town, that sinister society deep beneath the terrestrial home of the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve. It is a dwelling whose access is found in the long, steady descent from the natural light of God’s noble body to the land where all are equal in the darkness. It is the land of perceived opportunity, where inoffensive, feel-good slogans reign supreme. One can be as ulgy or beautiful as they like, for such is but a personal choice, and in want of the light there is no way to distinguish the admirable from the repulsive. This is the land of fake virtues, where one’s character is measured by how softly the news announcers react to it.

Moreover, it is the topic of announcers in Goblin Town that brings us to our point, to our new perspective. The following transcript is a message given from Feofar Gone, an announcer who operates the soundhouse of Goblin Town. In our world we have lighthouses which shine light to attract and guide ships, but in the lightless world of Goblin Town soundhouses are used to attract and guide lost creatures from the world above to the eternal depths. Feofar Gone just so happens to be charged, and even talented, in the art of attracting lost souls below. Let us not spend time wondering how his transcript was obtained, for doing so is easy enough for those who possess the skill. Instead, let us see what we can learn from his art.

A Letter from Feofar Gone

Dear humble tempters and modest comrades, how passionate is the thought of tricking a man into believing he is good or bad based solely on whether or not he has washed his hands. If we can get him to believe this, then we have all but won him to our eternal torment beneath all worlds. His citizenship below is not in question for it is only a matter of time. Our deceptive mission is to distract and confuse, that we might replace a man’s relationship to the Light while convincing him he is still fine. To the issue of cleanliness, our goal is to get the man thinking about the ritual formula of touching water with his hands, and forget about the possible presence of dirt. We want him to focus on things which can be satisfied without any honest cleaning or any honest effort. Get a man to believe that all he has to do to be good is to run his hands through water, and rather than asking himself if he is actually clean, he will ask himself if he did the deed of wetting his hands. Never is a thought given to the actual presence of dirt, but only to whether or not he satisfied the ritual.

It is through this magical bait and switch that we have managed to make simple the minds of the most intelligent creatures. Those whose natural characteristics draw them to study and think about the laws of life can easily be made the least likely to understand anything about it. It is always good style when we can get a man to earnestly believe he is doing something good when in fact he is doing nothing, for we like nothing.

Our goal is to be the ones who answer the real question of the human mind. You must see that the real question that weighs on the human mind is the question how one can be good and have good things in life while at the same time avoid suffering and unwanted things. The desire for this answer led to their fall, and we want to replace the Light in giving the answer. Regardless of how often or rare the humans think this question directly, it is the question which motivates all of their behaviors. What is the Heaven to admire and the hell to repulse? This is the formula they use in all their decisions, whether in choosing whom they would like to date, how they will organize their politics, or which items they want to buy at the market.

The Light has told His children to be careful, for He is aware of our scheme. In Matthew 6:23 He warned against us saying, “if the light in you is darkness, how great then is the darkness.” In all the joyful terrors below we actually find for ourselves an advantage in His warning. If we can convince the humans that we are the light, then they are truly our property. As the false light, we can then take advantage of the wisdom in Matthew 6:19-21 which teaches: do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. There is no greater joy for those of us below to have humans store up treasures with us in the deep when they really believe they are storing up treasures above. We want a man believing he is living by the Light’s morality from above when in fact he has replaced it with our morality from below. What a joyful art our work is!

Our job is to distract and confuse. We want the humans to have certainty in areas where they should be skeptical, and confusion in areas where they should have certainty. We want them certain that morality lies in the ritual of washing their hands, but uncertain when it comes to the presence of dirt. Furthermore, if we have them so focused on the ritual that the question of dirt doesn’t cross their mind, then we have really performed our duty well. But let us not be confused, while we know the truth that we are distracting them, we do not tell them that directly. Instead, we want them to think they are “focusing,” or whatever nice sounding euphemism we can use to make our malice sound like modesty.

 We want them certain in how they reinterpret the Scriptures of their Light, but completely unaware and undiscerning in the world around them. We want them certain in accusing their neighbors of oppressing people they’ve never met, and then saying things are “complex” when asked to justify their accusation. Never forget, accusations are our style and hobby; and, we can have people as our unconscious disciples if we lead them to believe their accusations are earnest reproaches and calls to virtue. The humans at some level know they are sinful and need to be corrected, and a righteous correction can often sound very similar to an accusation. Once again, our job is to distract and confuse. The difference between accusation and earnest correction can be sorted by examining what is objectively true; but, as you all know, objective truth belongs to the Light and we are students of the dark. We want them to have as little discernment as possible and as little objective truth as possible; therefore, we have them focus on perspectives, biases, and angles. We want them focusing on what is reported to them, what feels right, and not focusing on truths larger than themselves.

The Light made His creatures with a mind, and we want those minds! The Light always has His plans, trusting creatures to love Him in return, to willfully be transformed to His service. We do not want them to enjoy the freedom of His service, but believing that slavery to us will be more free. Our best research has found that showing humans the reactions of other humans is by far one of the most effective ways of getting them to willfully throw away their minds. Show them someone laughing and they will laugh too, even if they don’t yet know what is funny. The humans will listen to a clap track on their moving picture box and think something has happened worthy of applause. They will read a story in the newspaper and adopt the reaction and opinion of the writer while firmly believing it is their own. How stylish it is to have a human mimic others while believing they are thinking for themselves. It is through these tactics that we have nullified many great minds and given our own alternative to the Light’s gift of discernment. It feels so delightful to be on the expert side!

The Light has told them they need virtue, to be made holy as is He. As a result the humans might spend a great deal of their time wondering how they might stop sinning, how they might stop taking steps towards our complete darkness. But do not lose heart just because a human is thinking about how he might stop an evil, for we have a very clever way of keeping him on the downward descent.

The Light told His children in that letter to the Galatians 6:7 that with assurance God will not be mocked, a man will reap what they sow. We indeed know this to be true, and can again use the Light’s truth to our advantage. We know there is power in a name, and oh how good it feels when someone says our name. We simply must distract and confuse. If we can get the humans to continually focus on a sin, even if they think they are opposed to it, then they can actually find themselves embracing that sin so long as they are separated from the light. This formula is really simple indeed, keep them focusing on the sin problem and how they might stop it, but never let them affirm something different. Of this fact we are certain: no matter how much the humans might think they hate a sin from the start, if they think about it long and hard enough they will embrace it and repeat it, so long as an alternative is not given to them. If they are mad about teapots being broken because they were cleaned by hammers, tell them it’s time to clean hammers with teapots. The end result will be the same, but they will feel vindicated. If they are upset that one group is missing something another has, have them tear down the one group which has excess. Without the Light dwelling in them, it is easy to turn people into the evil they oppose while leading them to believe they are innocent. The more they sow downward movement the more they will reap it.

The humans have some awareness of our existence, but yet we still win if they will talk about the things we want them to talk about. Even if they think they dislike our goals, they will still use ideas, words, and tactics designed for our purposes. They think they are fighting us while they are actually doing our work.

 Our job is not to hold their hands as they come to us below, but to get them to come on their own. We do not want them thinking too deeply about what makes a person good or evil without our guidance and influence. We want their mind turned off, inhaling a well crafted narrative that tells them what to think so they do not have to burden themselves. We are here to lighten their load, to lead them to believe that our opinions and ideas are their opinions and ideas, to make them feel like they are smart when indeed they are simple.

Their Book of Job gives them wisdom in Job 5:2 saying surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple. Although they should head this as a warning, we have found it simple to fool them into thinking they are smarter than jealousy, completely unaware of how vexed and undiscerning they are.

The Light once told a young man in Luke 18:19 that “no one is good except God alone,” and then, to our joy, the rich young man walked away from the Light all by himself. He could not surrender to the certain fact that Light alone makes the good. The humans will be a slave to something, and being a slave to the Light will give them more freedom than being a slave to something else, or in many cases, nothing else. We do not want them aware of this fact, but deception on this point is easy enough. Although that rich young man understood the truth that would be written in Romans 6:22, but now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life, the young man flinched, and looked back to us for the comfort we afford. We are tolerant here, and we encourage one to choose what they want.

We want the humans thinking that it is their systems, tools, and weapons that determine how good or evil they are. We do not want them to know the truth: that only the Light can make them good and their sinful nature is the source of their calamity. The more we can corrupt their teachers, preachers, and all such positive role models to think this untrue logic the more we can teach people to believe they are thoughtfully good when  they are actually thoughtlessly empty. If we can get them to believe that the systems, tools, and weapons of the world are the means of transformation into goodness or wickedness, then they will be bickering all day long while they drift below to our eternal safety.

Your Respectful Soundhouse Operator, Feofar Gone

[kingdomofthelogos]

The Joyful Warrior

Read Mark 6

Download a printable version here.

How does Jesus deal with frustration? Particularly, how does Jesus deal with unreasonable frustration, when unexpected things turn against Him? Jesus embodies the noble character of the grateful and joyful warrior. The joyful warrior is one who beholds the extremity of evil, but is not wavered in their mission for the good. They confront corruption without being corrupted by it. They stare down unreasonable circumstances, but are never made uncertain of what to do. When dealt with unexpected frustrations that they neither asked for nor wanted they overcome them with great perseverance. Jesus demonstrates this character, and this is the character that God intended for Adam and Eve. Where our most ancient ancestors fell, God has paved a way for us to stand strong. 

God had great hopes for Adam and Eve when He created them, that they would achieve great things reflecting His Image as Creator since they were neither a simple pile of dust nor a basic creeping thing. God made them that they would accomplish things worthy of amazement, and in Mark 6 we do find God in the flesh being amazed. However, this amazement is hardly a good thing, for Jesus is completely bewildered by the lack of faith of His neighbors.

Jesus returns to His home town in Mark 6:1-6, and while this passage does not specify Nazareth we do know that this is Jesus’ hometown. Sadly, the Nazarenes are not excited to see the great power and authority that flows from Jesus’ ministry. Instead they are perplexed and disturbed by it.

There are two images of amazement in Mark 6. One is from the hometown crowds who are amazed at the miracles being performed by one they know. The second is the amazement Jesus has at the unbelief of His good work. These two amazements are not of the same kind. The awestruck behavior of the Nazarenes is recorded as “explessonto,” which describes the sort of bewilderment that tends to strike panic. Jesus’ behavior is described as “ethaumazen,” which indicates a feeling of wonder and speculation as to what one is beholding. The language of Jesus’ amazement is a very specific sort of amazement, where someone is impressed by what they are looking at, but not in a good way. Jesus is so impressed by His neighbor’s bad behavior that it moves Him to speculate the deeper state of mankind.

While Jesus’ countrymen are worked into a dramatic peril over His miraculous deeds, Jesus Himself is struck with a great wonder that causes Him to speculate about the bigger picture of life. We sometimes wonder about God’s sense of humor and what He might find pleasing or entertaining, but the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve do not put on a good look in Mark 6. In fact, the Nazarenes behave so badly that the Scripture records Jesus was not able to work any miracles other than a few healings during His stay.

We all hope to one day hear the words of Matthew 25:21which say “well done, my good and faithful servant,” but I do not think many of us hope to one day leave God looking upon our poor behavior with amazed speculation. God created Adam and Eve to do great things, not to be so pitifully dumb. As blunt as that sounds, that is the tone given to us by this Scripture. 

Despite the frustration of Jesus' hometown neighbors, His will is not damaged, and He continues on doing the good work of loving the fallen children. For this fact, we are grateful, and should all say “amen.” Moreover, this strong moral constitution is something we must learn to follow if we are to be noble men and women who stand firm in Christian living. Jesus displays for us the joyful warrior, one who is able to hold their character together while in the midst of unreasonable frustration.

Not all frustrations are the same. There is frustration which is reasonable and predictable, and another which is unexpected and unreasonable. There are times when we try something new, when we take on an unnecessary risk to see if something prosperous can happen. This might be cooking with a new recipe or applying for a new job. These things do not always succeed, and in fact many times they do not. Yet, while these things can leave us frustrated, there is at least some reason for the frustration and we tend to be able to navigate such situations fairly. However, there is an altogether different kind of frustration that lurks: the sort that comes in flat tires, long work days, and unexpected illnesses.

There are a lot of things which come to cause frustration without any reason and all, and it is these frustrations which are very difficult for us to handle with dignity. Although we should not be surprised by unreasonable suffering in fallen creation, it often stirs our nerves into unrighteous anger. It is the unreasonable frustrations that we feel the most offended by, the ones that we cannot seem to fathom why they even exist.

Unreasonable frustrations come in all sorts and forms. A massive homework assignment that we neither asked for nor see the purpose of can fit the bill. So can the irritating behavior of a coworker, or the discovery that someone in your family has lied to you. We might get mad at a glass that we dropped even though we thought if firmly in our hand. Sometimes we decide to do a simple task that should go smoothly by all reasonable expectations, but yet we are fought long and hard every step of the way with an endless amount of miserable setbacks. It is here that we realize Adam and Eve really were set to toil with a hostile world.

It is in the face of a dark valley which we neither wanted nor expected that we find ourselves wanting to wad up the task at hand and throw it in the garbage. Yet, rather than disposing of the source of our frustration, we often throw away our character. Rather than rallying our efforts to overcome our burden, we often give into throwing a temperamental fit which only makes the problem worse. For although we might throw a fit for some time, the problem will still be there in the end. How happy it must make the devil and his demons to see us respond to problems by using our energy to work against ourselves rather than actually be productive, they know that such fits only casts us into ruin while the problem stands firmly unmoved. The unrighteous anger we create doesn’t help us overcome, but only to be sloppy and impulsive. There is a time to use our God designed hormones of anger, for Ephesians 4:26 says be angry, but do not sin, but we also know from James 1:20 that the anger of man does nothing for the righteousness of God. 

God wants us to be creatures who overcome and achieve great things, not miserable reprobates who are petty and passive. In John 16:33 Jesus says “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” Jesus demonstrates a life of the joyful warrior, and this character we must pursue. Jesus is skeptical but not meaningless, He is frustrated but doesn’t want to destroy. Jesus is amazed by the extremity of sin, but He is not made uncertain about what is good and true. He stares down corruption without becoming corrupt Himself; He confronts evil but never mimics it, for rather than imitating evil Jesus affirms something entirely different: the Gospel. The Christ shows us what it means to be the joyful and grateful warrior who is merciful and firm, grateful and decisive, fierce and humble, unyielding but not murderous, and completely sure of one’s motivation to serve the Heavenly Father. All that Jesus does is an opportunity to display goodness, and even when people reject Him foolishly, He stands firm in His righteousness.

While examining the frustration that Jesus overcame in the disturbed amazement of Jesus’ hometown, it is important for us to understand what Mark 6 teaches us about the psychology of the fallen creature. It is not a given that people will appreciate the good; moreover, we only tend to appreciate the good if it happens to suit our personal pleasure. Instead, the depravity of the fallen creature tends to enjoy jealousy, self-indulgence, and easy-living far more than it appreciates charity, truth, and the noble labor personally demanded of us by all things good. Furthermore, when it comes to recognizing what is good and true, we tend to only acknowledge that something is good and true if we like the consequences of that something being good and true. 

If those in Nazareth accept what is the truth before them, that means they are going to have to completely change their lives to do as Jesus is teaching. However, since they do not want to do this, they come up with unreasonable and outright childish reasons to denounce Him as Messiah. Knowing the name of His mother, and being near His brothers and sisters has nothing to do with the legitimacy of His message nor the power of His healings. However, since they do not want to live with Jesus as their Messiah, they denounce the truth of His Lordship by saying impertinent statements like “Is not this the son of Mary?” and “are not His sisters here with us?” These things are completely impertinent, but yet they use this unreasonable line of thinking to justify their decision to reject a truth they do not want to live with: that Jesus is the Christ.

God made our minds to bring order to the world around us, He wants us to use our minds to build things up with great aspirations that reflect His power to create. God wants us to solve problems, to use our unique ability to think, love, and build like no other creature. God wants us to persevere and overcome, that we might make good on our innate design as His unique creatures. Adam and Eve were made as the unique creatures who could think and reason, for God made them sufficient to stand though free to fall.

I want us to think about how we deal with unreasonable frustration. Often our first instinct when faced with unreasonable frustration is to go to God in prayer that He might step in and completely fix everything in a snap. However, Jesus did not even do this in His own ministry. God did not make us as base animals, to be cared for without any reason on our part. Do not confuse the fact that God does not value the material world as highly as He values life with the false notion that God wants us to be passive and pitiful in how we deal with the material world around us. God wants us to persevere while being the joyous warriors who are conquerors with Christ. God wants you to use your talents to overcome the wiles of the world. Solving the problems, doing the homework, fixing the house, and helping the neighbor all matter to healthy and whole creatures. 

Romans 8:26 Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. We tend to think of this weakness as an absence of strength, but today I want us to think of it in terms of frustration, when our character is made weak by unreasonable circumstances. In these moments we often do not pray as we should, for we do not see ourselves as creatures made to overcome, but as sad things to be pitied. Some pray for God to fix everything or take it away, and when He doesn’t, they get mad at God and Scripture. The Spirit knows more than we do, and God has His time. When we raise up noble courage and embrace the Spirit which intercedes for us, we will find things working together for good and be victors in all things as Romans 8:37 describes: but in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

James 1:12 reads blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. This blessing is immovably tied to happiness and joy. When we learn to walk through the frustrating dark valleys with the noble character of Christ, we will find a joy which cannot be robbed of us. Let us look to Jesus' fortitude in Mark 6 and be joyful warriors who overcome unreasonable frustration. We only have so much time in this life, but God knows His victory has won life beyond death, and He wants us to use the time we have to be victors for the good.

[kingdomofthelogos]

Seeing Past Evil

Read Mark 5

Download a printable version here.

God is not tempted by evil, and nor does He tempt anyone with evil, as we are taught in James 1:13. Not only is God not enticed by evil, but He is not tricked by it either. Furthermore, God wants us to be transformed to a state where we are not fooled by it in our lives. In Mark 5:1-20, Jesus is confronted by a man who runs up to Him, bows down, and then cries for mercy to come out of his mouth. However, the Christ is not fooled into thinking this a mere victim to be pitied, for Jesus realizes this is a legion of demons pulling a scam. Holiness is not fooled by wickedness, and when we receive the gift of sanctification, that gift which quickens us for holy living, we are given a new set of eyes with which we can think more and more perfectly as we are aligned with God and His perfect will. Furthermore, we must realize that a lot of people want to be liberated from the nonsensical lack of truth in our world. Many see that scams are continually carried out, and they want liberty from them. We must witness to our neighbors of how the Gospel frees our minds to think clearly and see truth.

What do we expect evil to look like? A face of twisted features with a grotesque lack of symmetry? Whenever we think of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, we tend to envision the good doctor as a calm, collected man who wears a careful face of resolution, while his alternative self of Mr Hyde is a hideous brute with rudely contorted features. We think of one looking tame, as if he had never broken a bone, and other looking primitive, as if every bone had been broken and healed without being put back right. This is indeed how Hollywood has portrayed the situation; however, the actual novel of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde teaches something far more elusive about the face of evil.

Robert Louis Stevenson opens our minds to something different, something more sinister than mere misshapen features. In the novel, He describes Mr Hyde as follows: There is something wrong along with his look; something displeasing, something down-right detestable. I by no means saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce realize why. He had to be deformed somewhere; he gives a robust feeling of deformity, even though I couldn’t specify the factor. He’s an extraordinary searching man, but I truly can name not anything out of the way.

Mr Hyde’s features were not at all broken or misshapen. In fact, he appears much younger than Dr Jekyll, since never being a man he never had the opportunity to age. The discomfort he generates is unseen, and hard to pin down. He is certainly displeasing, but one cannot say why. Hyde gives the impression of being deformed, but there is no visible deformity. There is nothing visibly out of place, nothing strange which can be specified. Yet, his deformity is real, for his malady is nothing less than a nature that is perfectly sinful.

There is a lot we can learn from this fictional illustration. Evil does not always give us the gift of obvious deformity, but instead wholehearted evil often slips in looking completely ordinary. It is for this reason that we should be grateful when evil is obvious. It is easy to see the demonic truth of a twisted man tormented in the cemetery, but very hard to spot the demon which talks to you about Scripture on the sabbath.

In the first five chapters of Mark’s account of the Gospel, we find that Jesus has had a multitude of demonic encounters. Many of them were cast out in the synagogues, moving around society like ordinary people. Here in Mark 5 Jesus meets one in the cemetery, and something strange happens. The demoniac comes running towards Jesus, and upon meeting Him bows before the Christ. We read this story with the luxury of time, for we get a brief account of the encounter and learn how it ends quickly. But imagine if we saw this situation as it happened, imagine if we saw the demoniac speak to other people who did not have the power to cast out the evil, or even force it to reveal its name. If all we saw was a man bowing down and asking for relief, we might be fooled.

In Revelation 13:1 the Apostle John witnesses the beast rising out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads; and on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names. The beast appears on the seashore as if it is an ordinary thing, as if there is nothing suspicious at all about its emergence from the eternal deep. Despite its indescribable appearance, the beast does not come out of the sea in strong declaration of its evil. Rather, it comes out of the sea as if it is the most natural thing, as if people should have expected it all along. It comes with no Declaration of Independence to King George III as did those who led the American Revolution, and it does not nail 95 Theses to the door of the Church as did Martin Luther. The beast does not bother with explaining itself, for it merely expects people to worship it. And they do; moreover, in Revelation 13:8 all the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slaughtered.

The terrible demons in Mark 5 come to Jesus as if it is the most natural thing for them, as if their prostration is noble. However, they do this without the slightest recognition of the unspeakable evil they have enforced upon their captive child of God. The demonic hoard comes to Jesus, and forces their slave’s body to bow before the Christ. Specifically, the word used is prosekynesen, which refers to the reverent act of bowing down before someone in recognition of their honor. But let us not be deceived, the demons do not pay an honest tribute to Jesus’ honor as God the Son. They know who He is, and yet they think they can bow before Him without any recognition of the unfathomable evil they are conducting right before His eyes!

It is not the demons who bow, but the captive man they pilot around like a ferry. They cannot bow before Jesus without jerking about the chains and cables which animate their puppet. Their act of bowing is nothing more than an act of fiendish mockery. If they are not willing to even acknowledge their crime, then they are not serious about bowing down, much less real worship.

The wicked legion of hell comes with an attitude towards Jesus, as if they might somehow paint Him as the tormentor. Hell is very skilled at accusing others of what it is guilty of; in fact, we quite often find that people are regularly guilty of the sins by which they accuse others. It is easy to project the sin that one understands, and the demons understand a thing or two about torment.

From this we learn that we must be very careful not to be fooled by evil. Many of the superficial details of this scene might lead us to think the demons were good if we did not have Jesus there to exorcise them. They come bowing down before Jesus, they call out His truth and correctly name Him as the Son of God, and they even come with an appeal that makes them sound as if they are the victims who need pity. Yet, all of this is a scam. It is a diabolical misrepresentation that bears false witness to the truth that they are slaving pirates who sail around the earth with one of God’s children as their unwilling ship.

Evil is both real and present, and the more we think it is absent the better it is situated to prey on us. Christ does not want us to be enslaved to evil, but to be liberated by the power of the Gospel. If we want to stand firm against the wiles of Evil, then we must recognize that even the devil can quote scripture and demons will pretend to bow down before the King of Kings.

Jesus’ response gives no credence to the insincere appeal, and He commands them to be cast out. There is no negotiation, no agreement met where they can continue to keep their man in bondage. At the word of Jesus, they must let him free. This is how the Gospel handles evil: it casts it out. There is no compromise to be made with it, and let us not think that sending the demons into the swine was a compromise, for the Scriptures do not specify that it was only the swine who perished in the waters.

Jesus was neither fooled nor distracted by the fake posturing of the demonic legion, and from this fact we learn something distinct about holiness. Those who live holy lives should not be easily fooled by deceptive morality. Throughout the Gospel, Jesus is teaching us that we should not see problems in the world in the same way that the world does. We must teach our children and our neighbors how to think clearly, and the only way to truly think freely is to be transformed by the perfect love of Christ. God wants us to use our minds, but the devil and his demons want us to be blind and led astray by every passing whim.

In Mark 1:16-20 the world saw fishermen when Jesus saw two brothers named James and John who needed the call of Heaven. Later in Mark 1:40-45, the world saw a leper while Jesus saw a man that He wanted to make clean. The world saw tax collectors and sinners in Mark 2:13-17, but Jesus saw a man called Levi who needed the love of God. Time and time again in the Gospel the world tries to get Jesus to answer questions like “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” as in John 9:2, but Jesus answers, “neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” as in John 9:3. Jesus does not see things in the way the world wants Him to, for the holiness of God is not baited into anything less than truth. By the time we arrive at our text in Mark 5:1-20, a man runs up to Jesus, bows down, and an appeal for mercy comes out of his mouth; however, Jesus is not fooled by what appears to be a reverent victim crying out for earnest relief, instead He sees the truth: a diabolical scam pretending to be something it is not.

All Christians are instructed by the Gospel to have a new set of eyes with which they navigate life; furthermore the very gift of the Holy Spirit, a gift we often call sanctification, should transform how we see the world. In Acts 3:1-7 there was a man expecting alms by the Temple. He had been lame from birth and the world, including the supposedly spiritual people, expected this man’s situation to be addressed in terms of alms, pity, and material charity. Peter and John do not address this man’s problems on the terms of finance and pity. Instead, they heal him. They see the world differently, not bothering to get hung up in the weeds of alms and pity. They see the world on the terms of the Gospel, and are moved to bless the man with the liberty of Christ. This freedom to see problems differently is a gift of the Gospel, and we must illuminate it to others.

In 1 Peter 4:1-4, the Apostle Peter lays out for us how we should think differently than the world by thinking clearly with the Holy Spirit: Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin), 2 so as to live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God. 3 You have already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of dissipation, and so they blaspheme.

In Ephesians 6:17 the church is given the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The Holy Spirit came to us, and we have been gifted the great weapon of sanctification. The church should not be in lockstep with the world, being fooled and baited into untruthful methods of thinking. People are hungry to be freed from the nonsense of our world, and we must teach the Gospel which frees people to think clearly with God. Real holiness gives us new eyes and ears to navigate life, and it makes us sufficient and motivated to live as God intends. There is great evil which we must stand against, and let us make good on the Gospel by seeing the world with Christ and not under the deceptive tricks of fallen creation. Do not be fooled by evil that puts on a show, but weigh out fruits and live freely with Christ.