day no. 17,553: the origin of alfred's war song

Isaiah 59:19-20

So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.

Alfred's War Song was inspired by the verse above.

When the enemy comes in a-roaring like a flood

Coveting the kingdom and hungering for blood

The Lord will raise a standard up and lead His people on

The Lord of Hosts will go before defeating every foe; defeating every foe

For the Lord is our defense, Jesu defend us;

for the Lord is our defense, Jesu defend.

Where the Lord permits monsters, He raises up men to defeat them. 

The verse goes on to promise the presence of God with His people. He will be with them as they fight their enemies from without and their sins within. He will provide the victory from foreign invaders and common sins. He will protect us from external danger and internal turmoil.

Paul picks up on this verse in Romans 11:26, where he writes, "And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, 'There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.'"

Ungodliness will bow the knee to God and antichrists will confess that Christ is Lord.

day no. 17,552: greater heights

"If the Church could be aroused to a deeper sense of the glory that awaits her, she would enter with a warmer spirit into the struggles that are before her. Hope would inspire ardour. She would even now arise from the dust, and like the eagle, plume her pinions for loftier flights than she has yet taken. What she wants, and what every individual Christian wants, is faith — faith in her sublime vocation, in her Divine resources, in the presence and efficacy of the Spirit that dwells in her — faith in the truth, faith in Jesus, and faith in God. With such a faith there would be no need to speculate about the future. That would speedily reveal itself. It is our unfaithfulness, our negligence and unbelief, our low and carnal aims, that retard the chariot of the Redeemer. The Bridegroom cannot come until the Bride has made herself ready. Let the Church be in earnest after greater holiness in her own members, and in faith and love undertake the conquest of the world, and she will soon settle the question whether her resources are competent to change the face of the earth." ― J. H. Thornwell [c. 1871], quoted in The Puritan Hope by Iain H. Murray

If we began with the end in mind, we would build on a better foundation and we would build better. The promises of God are all Yes and Amen in Christ. His will will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. If we believed that in our bones, we would work more, not less. We would faithfully build and prepare for that glorious Day instead of bemoaning our current events. We would spend less time doomscrolling and more time reflecting on the scrolls and more time hastening the Day.

day no. 17,551: atomistic or adamistic?

"We live in an individualistic age, but another way of saying this is that we live in anti-covenantal age." — Douglas Wilson, On Becoming a Responsible Man

The first man was Adam, not atom. He was made to be in covenant with God and with others. This is why it was not good for him to be alone. He was made to belong to others. Individualism is therefore a Christian heresy. It attempts to reduce molecular man to a single atom. Man was made to be responsible for himself and others. Individualism is the secular doctrine of blame-shifting incarnate.

"The reason we kick against this is because individualism has seeped deep into our bones. It doesn’t seem fair to us that a man can be held responsible for the guilt that someone else incurred. But the reason it doesn’t seem fair is because it isn’t. It is covenant unity. Is it fair that when I cut my hand, my whole body has a difficult time of it? The whole body can’t sleep because of it? Again, that is certainly uneven, but it is also just how bodies work." — Douglas Wilson, On Becoming a Responsible Man

Christ embodied masculine responsibility as the new Adam. He took responsibility for sins He did not commit because He was covenantally connected to His people. He was not at fault and He was blameless, but He took the blame by taking responsibility for His people. This is a cornerstone of Christian doctrine. It is the antithesis of individualism. It is the remedy for the societal ill and idolatry of secularism.

day no. 17,550: surrounded by snowflakes

"The rule of effeminacy blames the male, and the brittle men in reaction gathered up their skirts to run away from the blame. But 'don’t blame meeee!' is hardly a fighting creed." — Douglas Wilson, On Becoming a Responsible Man

Responsibility is the true essence of masculinity. The effeminatti out there blame masculinity for causing all of our problems and the effeminate among us get their feelings hurt by the accusation and go sit alone in their room for a while. But accepting responsibility is not the same as taking the blame. There is a way to be a man who steps up to take charge of a situation without accepting the blame for the situation. Men of action do it all the time. A plane crashes on the beach and a male survivor takes charge. By doing so, he doesn't have to be the reason the plane crashed. He can be responsible without being the reason things went sideways. 

That said, sometimes he played a part in it. Maybe the pilot survived the accident. He was flying and it was his fault. Does this disqualify him from stepping up to fix the problem he created? Not at all. Does this obligate him to step up to address the problem? Absolutely.

"No one raindrop feels responsible for the flood." — Douglas Wilson, On Becoming a Responsible Man

It is easy to shirk responsibility for the avalanche when you are surrounded by snowflakes, but good and godly men acknowledge the part they may have played and then they get to work hard to dig everyone else out of the predicament. They don't grow snowblind. A good man isn't always to blame, but sometimes he is. When he isn't, however, he must not apologize in order to make things feel better. He must not give in to the empathy mob in order to bring the temperature down. He must take responsibility for the situation, not for their misrepresentations. 

day no. 17,549: wanting to win, but willing to lose

“We may fight with abandon precisely because we are not abandoned. Fatalistic warriors can be grim and fell, but never merry.” — Douglas Wilson, Concise and to the Point

You can fight like you have nothing left to lose when you know you are not lost. Those who are found are free to lose it all for a chance at winning. Christians do not throw their lives away and they do not solemnly march to their demise with hope in their hearts and frowns on their faces. They do not frantically fight out of despairs nor do they sheepishly refuse to fight out of fear. They sing and they swing as they die to themselves that they might live to lay down their lives. We do not battle under the fate once for all delivered, we battle by the faith once for all delivered and whether we win or we lose, we live or die as free men by grace through faith in Christ alone.

"The one perfectly divine thing, the one glimpse of God's paradise given on earth, is to fight a losing battle - and not lose it." — G.K. Chesterton

Faith fights the good fight because it is good. It does fight to win, but it doesn't refuse to fight if victory seems impossible. Because it fights upon principle, it makes its last stand on the Rock rather than compromise to live to not fight another day.

"Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.” — G.K. Chesterton

You cannot be brave unless there is a change you can lose, but you cannot be brave without a belief that your cause deserves to win.

"He can only get away from death by continually stepping within an inch of it. A soldier surrounded by enemies, if he is to cut his way out, needs to combine a strong desire for living with a strange carelessness about dying. He must not merely cling to life, for then he will be a coward, and will not escape. He must not merely wait for death, for then he will be a suicide, and will not escape. He must seek his life in a spirit of furious indifference to it; he must desire life like water and yet drink death like wine." — G.K. Chesterton

Christianity does not require us to lose, but it does require us to be willing to lose in order to be made right. There is nothing particularly selfless about being defeated anymore than there is anything inherently selfish about obtaining victory. In Christ, we are more than conquerors, not less, but if we will not die to ourselves, we cannot be in Him.

day no. 17,548: cross politics (exhortation outline)

Christ Church Leavenworth

Post-Election Wrap Up

November 8, 2026

"Cross Politics"

THE TEXT

Our text this morning is 1 Timothy 2:1-6, these are the words of God.

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”

May God bless the reading of His Word. Amen.

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This past Tuesday, mid-term elections were held in our nation and whether the candidates you voted for won or lost, the way we are commanded to pray for them is the same. And how is that? Our text this morning tells us: we are to pray that they would do everything in their power to make it possible for us to have some peace and quiet. In other words, we pray for them to leave us alone. And this is true whether our guy won or lost. When our guy wins, this is easy to forget. We want him to do things for us. When our guy loses, however, it is easier to see the wisdom of Paul’s counsel. We all want limited government when it is going against us, but we are tempted to want big government when it is going in a direction we like. We must always remember the nine most terrifying words in the English language: “I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help.” And this is true whether the guy in charge is our guy or not. Whatever our problems are, the answer is not more government. We see that here in 1 Timothy 2.

More government does not lead to more freedom. More legislation does not lead to liberty. The government is not a freedom factory. It does not produce our rights. It doesn’t produce anything. Our rights come from God. The government’s job is to protect what we already have, not to give us what we want. And when they try to, they produce more problems than they solve. 2 Peter 2:19 “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.” When the government tries to manufacture “rights,” they always end up trampling on the rights we already have, the very rights they were elected to protect.

When the blind lead the blind, they both fall into a pit and when a slave of corruption leads another slave of corruption, they both end up more enslaved. Consider this quip from C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Proposes a Toast where the demons celebrate the success of big government in England. “I heard the other day that in that country a man could not, without a permit, cut down his own tree with his own axe, make it into planks with his own saw, and use the planks to build a toolshed in his own garden.” One version of Hell on earth is what we see in the book of Judges 21:15, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” This is the Bonehead option: no rules, no rulers. Anarchy is one way to ruin everything. Another version is tyranny. This is the Bonaparte option. History is largely a vacillation between these two. We get sick of being parented by the government and so we seek to cast off all authority. We then get sick of being orphans and so we offer all authority to anyone who is willing to come in and clean things up. But it isn’t a choice between bedlam and bureaucracy, It is a choice between Christ and chaos. Chaos can take the form of no rules, but it also can take the form rule by endless forms. Chesterton said it this way, “'If men will not be governed by the Ten Commandments, they shall be governed by ten thousand commandments… When you break the big laws, you do not get liberty; you do not even get anarchy. You get the small laws.”

So, when we ask the government to trespass its jurisdiction, we do not get more liberty, we get more laws. Laws about how fast you can drive, laws about fuel efficiency, laws about car seats, laws about seatbelts, laws, laws, and more laws. Why? Chesterton again, “Abolish God and the government becomes God.” There will be a god of the system. This is an inescapable concept: not whether, but which. Every society has a point beyond which there is no appeal. Whatever that point is, that is the god of that system. It will either be the one, true God, Maker of Heaven and earth and His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, or it will be an idol: Christ or chaos. The government will either be governed by God or it will be ungovernable. Chesterton again, “Government has become ungovernable; it cannot leave off governing. Law has become lawless; it cannot see where laws should stop. The chief feature of our time is the meekness of the mob and the madness of the government.” The only thing worse than a government that has gotten out of control is a people who put up with it… and even worse a people who think more government is the only solution.

So, stand firm in the freedom Christ has purchased for us, and do not sell out for a few handouts. Galatians 5:1 “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Resist the rights the government offers and stand firm in the ones God has already given to you. “There is only ONE mediator between God and man,” and that mediator is NOT the state, it is Jesus Christ. Psalm 146:3-5 “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God.” So, where is your hope? Is it in the results of this last election? Or is it in the next one? Instead of trusting in princes and policies to deliver you, look to Christ who already has. 

In his best-selling book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey made the following observation, "You cannot talk your way out of problems you behaved yourself into." The same principle, I believe, applies here: we cannot vote our way out of the problems we sinned our way into. Whether your guy won or lost this past Tuesday, it will not resolve what’s ultimately wrong with us. Only repentance can get to the heart of the problem. 

Once upon a time in the early 1900s, The Times of London posed a simple, yet profound question:“What’s wrong with the world today?” Many prominent authors responded with long essays and papers. G.K. Chesterton, however, responded with one-sentence: “What’s wrong with the world today? Dear Sir, I am. Yours, G.K. Chesterton” What’s wrong with America? You are. I am. We are. “No! It’s all those people who voted for commies this past Tuesday. It’s all those hypocrites already in office not doing what they said they would do.” Yes, and amen. Them too. But the sins of others never absolve us of our own. We are not justified because someone else deserves to be condemned. We are justified because an innocent man died for us even though we deserved to be condemned.

There is no political solution to our current problem. That is not to say that politics have nothing to do with it or that politics will not play a role in it, but it is to say that unless we repent, our politics will not be able to save us. Without Christ, our politics are impotent to fix what’s wrong with the world. So, if we want to make America great again, we must make America Christian again. We do not need a bigger government, we need a bigger view of Christ. He must increase and our government, as well as our hope in it, must decrease; “for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”… and nowhere else (2 Cor 3:17)

CALL TO CONFESSION

Well, since we so often trust in princes more than we do in providence and since we so often hate the sins of others more than we hate our own, we are reminded of our need to regularly confess our sins, including the sin of wanting someone else to fix our problems with others without personally repenting of our own. So, if you are able, please kneel with me and confess your sins, first privately and then corporately using the prayer found in your bulletin.

CORPORATE CONFESSION

Almighty and merciful Father, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us. Renew us and lead us by Your Holy Spirit so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name.

DECLARATION OF PARDON

Arise and hear the Good News! The assurance of pardon today comes from 1 John 1:8-9 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Take heart, Christian. Christ is King and He is kind. The world will be saved, but not by policies and not by princes. It will be saved because He is faithful and He is just. He will forgive those who look to Him and call upon Him. So, in His Name and for His sake, it is my pleasure to declare to you this morning that your sins are forgiven… THANKS BE TO GOD!

Now let us ascend to the presence of God in all worship and praise.

day no. 17,547: the twin sins of trajectory and speed

"Most conservatism today is just ambulatory progressivism." ― Douglas Wilson, That Rancid Reservoir, Filled With Guilt

The progressives are dizzy and drunk on the floor. The conservatives are drunk and dizzy, but still standing. They are bound for the same floor the progressives are on, they just aren't there yet. Everyone is drunk and still drinking. No one is aiming at sobriety.

"Conservatism is a party which never conserves anything." — R.L. Dabney

At this point, the only thing conservatives fight to keep around are their previous defeats. They are never advancing the ball toward some conservative utopia, they are only ever attempting to stay living in the last hell hole they attempted to avoid moving into.

"Conservatism is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition." — R.L. Dabney

The sin of the Left is wanting to drive the world off a cliff and the sin of the Right is arguing about what speed we are going. No one is arguing that perhaps we shouldn't drive off of the cliff. The Right merely wants to lose later than the Left does. They are the twin sins of the trajectory and speed.

"The only practical purpose which conservatism now subserves in American politics is to give enough exercise to Radicalism to keep it 'in wind.' and to prevent its becoming pursy and lazy, from having nothing to whip." — R.L. Dabney

The Left would be less agile if they didn't have the Right to wrestle. The Right keeps the Left in shape. Without the Right, the Left would atrophy as they embraced the entropy of things. The Lord provides rebirth and revival, but outside of Him, there is only death and its spiral.

“The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected.” — G.K. Chesterton; Illustrated London News, April 19, 1924

By relentlessly holding on to yesterday's mistakes, conservatives keep correction at bay. The progressives go on to make new mistakes and the conservatives go on to embrace the last mistake made as that halcyon time when everything was right with the world.

day no. 17,546 american women have waxed fat and kicked

“The early twentieth century was characterized by the Christian wife. The early twenty-first century is characterized by the tattooed concubine. And these sons of Belial have the chutzpah to call it ‘progress for women.’” — Douglas Wilson, Concise and to the Point

Women were made to help men build things. When they go rogue, they do not merely not help men build, they actively tear down what men have already built.

Proverbs 14:1

Every wise woman buildeth her house: 

but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

The wise Christian women of the early twentieth century helped their men build a healthy society. The wanton women of the early twenty-first century are actively tearing down the world their grandfathers built (and they don't feel even the slightest bit of guilt about it). They are not accidentally destroyed the world of their forefathers, they are actively, aggressively, enthusiastically ripping it apart and spitting on the shreds. 

"Religion begat prosperity and the daughter devoured the mother.” — Cotton Mather

America women have waxed fat and kicked and the consequences have been tragic.

day no. 17,545: harsh realities and necessary goods

“In a healthy society, if wives are generally submissive to their own husbands, there will be a cheerful deference to the leadership of men generally, a reality to be welcomed and not resented. The end result generally will be a patriarchal society.” ― Douglas Wilson, Concise and to the Point

Patriarchy is not an evil, not even a necessary evil; it is a necessary good.

It is not a sinful system to usurp, it is a lawful system to embrace.

Reality is never on the ballot. Everyone could vote against reality and reality would still win the election. Just as one man with God is always in the majority, so the reality of God is always our reality. That is not a harsh reality, but it feels harsh to those who keep hitting their head on it.

day no. 17,544: rocco is 11

A toast for Rocco:

Rocco,

You are a good son, a good brother, a good friend, and a good man. You do what you say you are going to do and you work hard at the tasks that are assigned to you. You play well with your friends and work well when you are on your own. You know how to be crazy and you know how to be calm. You can sit and read and you can climb a tree. These are the things men need to do. They need to be steady and secure and they need to be ready to secure the area. You are smart and strong, just like a good man should be. I will miss 10 year old Rocco, but I am excited to get to know 11 year old Rocco. May you continue to grow in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and with others just as Jesus did when He was your age. 

To Rocco!

I am so proud of you and I love you very much.

Happy Birthday, Rocketsauce.

Dad

day no. 17,543: just the one

Acts 22:14

The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.

Jesus is the Just One that Paul saw on the road to Damascus. 

How many just ones are there? Just the one.

day no. 17,542: all dressed up with nowhere to go

“Benches were pushed back, bedding gear and bolsters

Spread across the floor…

At their heads they placed their polished timber

Battle-shields; and on the bench above them,

Each  man’s  kit  was  kept  to  hand:

A towering war-helmet, webbed mail-shirt

And great-shafted spear. It was their habit

Always and everywhere to be ready for action,

At home or in the camp, in whatever case

And at whatever time the need arose

To rally round their lord. They were a right people."

— Beowulf, Seamus Heaney translation

It is a good thing to be ready to go.

Luke 12:35

Stay dressed for action.

Preparedness is about being getting ready so that when the time comes, you're already ready. There is no time to get ready when the time comes.

Get ready now so that you will be ready later.

In the world of preparedness, it is a good thing to be all dressed up with nowhere to go.

day no. 17,541: the fact of the fight

"First, we must know what to fight. And secondly, we need to learn how to fight. Our central foe is secularism—the mindset that sets itself up against the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10: 5). And as for how we fight, that should be with the joy of the Lord at our backs (Neh. 8:10), a psalm on our lips (Ps. 144:1), and a scriptural rapier in hand (Hen. 4:12). We are to fight like cavaliers, and not like trapped animals." ― Douglas Wilson, Jehovah and the Midterms

The fact of the fight must be acknowledged first and foremost. For some, this is the hardest part. The myth of secular neutrality has led many to believe that coexisting is the most Christian thing anyone one of us can do. After the fact of the fight is understood, the tactics for fighting must be acknowledged. We are in the flesh, but we do not fight by the force of the flesh. There is a way to fight that concedes the outcome. For example, if we fight sin with sin, we might win, but sin definitely does. We must fight by faith, but by fear. We are not cornered beasts fighting for our lives, we are men fighting for the glory of God. Let us not devolved into bestial battle tactics even when the ugliness of war descends upon us, rather let us rise to the level of the angels who once cleared Heaven of Satan and his comrades.

Wage peace, saints.

day no. 17,540: pregnant people

Psalm 7:8-16

The LORD judges the peoples;

judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness

and according to the integrity that is in me. 

Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,

and may you establish the righteous—

you who test the minds and hearts,

O righteous God!

My shield is with God,

who saves the upright in heart. 

God is a righteous judge,

and a God who feels indignation every day.

If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;

he has bent and readied his bow; 

he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,

making his arrows fiery shafts. 

Behold, the wicked man conceives evil

and is pregnant with mischief

and gives birth to lies. 

He makes a pit, digging it out,

and falls into the hole that he has made. 

His mischief returns upon his own head,

and on his own skull his violence descends.

Turns out the Left was right: men can get pregnant. And not only that, but all men are pregnant. Evil is conceived in the hearts of men and mischief grows in utero before inevitably being born out in misbehavior. And this is not unique to men, it is common to all mankind. So, again, the Left was right: we should say "pregnant people" for men and women everywhere are full of sin. The only hope is to abort the evil before it is born. Again, the Left was apparently on to something, they have just misapplied the meaning of everything.

day no. 17,539: timidity and temerity

"In peace there's nothing so becomes a man

As modest stillness and humility:

But when the blast of war blows in our ears,

Then imitate the action of the tiger;

Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,

Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage."

― Shakespeare, Henry V: Act 3, Scene 1

If a man is only capable of mayhem, he is not a safe man, and if he is only capable of minding his manner, he is not safe either. The first man may turn on you and the second man cannot turn away danger. The first man is a blessing when he is on your side against a common foe and the second man is a blessing to rest beside when there are no foes, but the first man is no fun to relax with because you're always walking on eggshells and the second man is no fun to fight beside because he always gets you shelled. 

Timidity and temerity are equally dangerous. The timid can get you killed and the temerous can turn on you. The timid are perhaps more dangerous because no one intuitively sees the danger. Everyone sees the danger of the ticking time bomb, but few see the danger of a bomb with no bang.

"If you think tough men are dangerous, wait until you see what weak men are capable of." — Jordan B. Peterson

A good man must be good at being a man. He needs to know how to sit still in peace and how to rise up and rage. If he can only do one or the other, he is not safe.

day no. 17,538: emasculated liars and liberty

"Freedom is not a gift that lasts long in the hands of cowards.” ― Theodore Roosevelt

For freedom Christ has set us free. We must resist the urge to go back to slavery. Really? Go back to slavery? Why would anybody want to do that? Glad you asked. Slavery is simple. Your room and board are paid for. You don't have the responsibility to provide for yourself or decide for yourself. Freedom is expensive. It means you have to decide to get out of bed and go to work and not buy that thing and cook that other thing in order to eat. Freedom is only possible where responsibility it assumed. Free men and women must have faith because problems require courage. The faint of heart can never be free. If you hand them freedom, they will squander it or even worse, they will sell it and be right back where they were before you gave it to them. Liberty is easy to lose and difficult to keep.

That is why the lizard overlords like it when we lie to ourselves. They love it when we embrace the habits of slaves. They like it even better when we call those habits "heroic" and "liberation."

"A society of emasculated liars is easy to control.” — Theodore Dalrymple

Free sex, drugs, housing, healthcare, and internet access do not produce free people. They are the kinds of things slaves eat up. All the freedoms being offered to us by the government are those which they "give" to those in prison: room, board, tv, internet, gym membership, and healthcare. Choose wisely.

day no. 17,537: abortion, blood guilt, and open borders

“Europe will be destroyed by women who project onto those animals the motherhood that belonged to the children they aborted.” ― Nelson Rodrigues

Abortion has produced a bunch of blood guilt. Everywhere we go, we are walking on soil soaked in the blood of babies. This guilt haunts us in general and it haunts many women in particular. That guilt produces tension which seeks resolution. But there is no bringing back the babies who have died and many of the mother wouldn't wish them back if they could. The same selfishness that led them to terminate their own child back then causes them to forsake their them now, but the guilt remains. It seeks somewhere to go. And so, liberal woman haunted by their decisions have fallen prey to those who want to flood our lands with foreigners. In those aliens and strangers, these women see an opportunity exorcise their demons. They extend the sympathy to them which ought to have been placed on their own children. They devote time and energy to strangers that should have been devoted to their own posterity. And so, Europe is being ravaged by someone else's children because their mother's are murderers and their wombs are full of guilt conceived by their selfishness. And that guilt is growing and on the verge of being delivered after which it will turn around and slay its own mother.

James 1:15

When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

day no. 17,536: secular stud farms

“More is involved in raising up a godly seed than for a man to have dogmatic convictions about birth control, matched only by his unwillingness to feed, read to, educate, pay tuition for, bestow upon, and love the results of his dogmatism. There are no promised covenantal blessings for the self-absorbed proprietors of stud farms.” ― Douglas Wilson, Concise and to the Point

Some men have a lot of thoughts about having a lot of kids but do not have a lot of vision or commitment to raising those same kids. They want to be patriarchs, like the godly men of old, but instead they end up like men on the assembly line making widgets for somebody else. Kids are a blessing, but they are not an automatic blessings. They are always a resource, but the question is if they will be a resource for good or for evil. People are productive. They will either produce light or they will produce darkness. Children are compared to arrows. They will either be shot into the heart of darkness or they will blot out of the sun.

Uninvolved fathers of large numbers of children are merely secular studs. They strut around like a bull, but all of their children are taken away and eaten by someone else.

day no. 17,535: fighting to win or striving to survive?

"If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival." ― Winston Churchill, The Gathering Storm

Pursuit is perhaps one of the most difficult principles of war to consistently apply. More often than not, people fight to the point of defeating their enemies, not to the point of seeing their principles established. Men argue and fight for the sake of destroying their foe's premises, but they fall short of proving their own.

"Failure to pursue frequently reveals that the objective in the campaign was not victory, but rather some version of the 'upper hand.' Once we have fought to the point where we might be left alone for a while, we stop. This often happens because Christians are peace-loving people, and this sometimes gets them into trouble. Too often we drag a problem out and make the whole thing last ten times longer than it has to last. But when the principle of pursuit is employed, it is clear that victory is the objective." ― Douglas Wilson, Rules for Reformers

Too many settle for the upper hand when they should be striving to have their arms raised in victory. We do not fight when we should because we like peace. Peace is good and it should be preferred to war as a goal, but it should be be picked over war in practice. We must fight for peace, not forfeit peace by refusing to fight. We must wage peace.

"We are not to fight to the point of predominance, we are to fight to the point of complete victory... Pursuit is the principle neglected by the currently strong. Many wars have been prolonged because the victorious army did not press its advantage in the immediate aftermath of a critical battle." ― Douglas Wilson, Rules for Reformers

It is easy to enjoy a victory than it is to keep fighting. It is easier to settle for lesser peace than it is to strive for peach on earth. In this, however, we prove that the love of our neighbor an enemy is not part of our calculus. If it were, we would push harder in order to put an end to the possibility of future wars. We would not kick the can down the road to fight another day, we would rise to our full height and fight now in order to put an end to all the fighting.

"Willingness to pursue when pursuit is a possibility reveals, like nothing else reveals, what the true objective was. An unwillingness to pursue is equally revelatory." ― Douglas Wilson, Rules for Reformers

Our refusal to fight when victory is near is an indictment against us. We do not want to win, but we do want to pop some champagne in the winner's circle. 

day no. 17,534: the chalcedonian creed (exhortation outline)

Christ Church Leavenworth

Call to Confession

October 25, 2026

"The Chalcedonian Creed"

INTRODUCTION

Happy Reformation Sunday! Next week we will begin reciting the Chalcedonian Creed as our confession of faith following the sermon. And since it’s been a year since we have recited it, I thought it would be helpful to review it this morning so that we’re ready to throw our hearts into it next Sunday. Let’s begin by reading it in its entirety. If you’d like to follow along, it is printed on pg. 819 of the Cantus.

“We confess our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood, truly God and truly man, of a reasonable soul and body; consubstantial with the Father according to his Godhead, and consubstantial also with us as according to his Manhood; in all things like unto us, yet without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the virgin, Mary, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning have declared concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the fathers has handed down to us. Amen.”

WORDS MATTER

The Scriptures teach that Jesus is and was both fully God and fully man. We see this stated perhaps most clearly and concisely in the prologue to John’s Gospel in 1:1, 14, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” So, there it is: The Word was God and the Word became flesh: God became a man. But how did that work? How can infinite God be bound to a particular place? And how can a particular man bear the sins of the world? That is what the Chalcedonian Creed was drafted to address and that is why it reads more like a theology manual than a statement of belief like the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. For that reason, this may all seem like a bunch of nerds arguing over words, but don’t check out if systematic theologies aren’t your thing. There is actually quite a bit at stake here and a lot of practical applications for people like  you and me. 

And that is because our view of Jesus matters. Especially for Christians. If we are striving to be “little Christs,” what we think He is like will affect what we’re trying to do and how we go about doing it. For example, if we, as the late, great Voddie Baucham once warned, view Jesus as a “soft, effeminate, European, metrosexual, shampoo model,” that will show up in how we see other things. Or if we think of Jesus as the guy on the right side of the Bible who came along to apologize for the guy on the left side of the Bible, that will affect the way we talk about Him and what we think about His rules, especially the ones on the left side of the Book. Our theology comes out of our fingertips and what we think affects what we do. A.W. Tozer put it this way, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." Ideas have consequences. Belief is upstream from behavior. What Owen Barfield once said about C.S. Lewis is more or less true of all of us, “What we think about everything affects the way we think about anything.” The same thing is true here. What we think of Jesus matters.

WHAT WE THINK OF JESUS MATTERS

If Jesus is really God, but only kind of a man, we have a High Priest who cannot really represent us when He enters the presence of God on our behalf. He doesn’t really “get us” despite what the Super Bowl ad said. But if Jesus was just a man and not really God, we have a High Priest who cannot really atone for our sins because he has enough of his own to atone for. In that case, “He gets us,” just like the Super Bowl ad said, but He can’t really do anything about it. All Christs are not created equal. One, in fact, wasn’t created at all. Consider 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 

“I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the one we proclaimed… you put up with it.” 

Do not put up with designer knock off Jesuses. Do not drink the Aldi Kool-aid Christs. Put them out of mind and put them in their place, which is under the footstool of the real Jesus. There are many counterfeit Christs out there and some are closer to the real thing than others, but all are missing some essential quality that keeps them from being the real thing and close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Christ-ish isn’t going to cut it. In our day, most of the counterfeits fudge on the fully God part. They are big on the fully man part. So much so, many of them are bold enough to attribute even some of the worst sins of fallen man to Him – like gay pride parade Jesus, trans-the-kids Jesus, open borders Jesus, and commie-redistribution Jesus. A dead give away is when they say, “If Jesus were alive today He would…” IF?!?!? What do you mean if? He IS alive! I think we are talking about two different people. 

And that is why the Chalcedonian Creed is as important today as ever. We are not free to redefine who Jesus is. We are constantly bombarded by people posting about how their Jesus would never turn someone away or how their Jesus would never carry a sword. And you know what? They’re right. Their Jesus would never do any of those things, because their Jesus can’t do anything. He isn’t real. They have fashioned an idol in their own image and named it, “Jesus.” But calling your idol “Jesus” doesn’t make it any better, it only makes it worse. 

When Moses went up the mountain, the Israelites got worried and petitioned Aaron to make a new god for them. They gathered up their gold and “out came the golden calf.” They worshiped it and thanked it for delivering them out of Egypt. Even though they had just made it like an hour ago, they praised it for parting the red sea months before. And as egregious as that all is, do you know what the worst part of it was? They named the thing “The Lord.” So, when Moses came back down the mountain and accused them of going after false gods, what did they say, “Far be it from us to worship false gods, we worship the Lord. See, he’s right there.” Moses, who had just been in the presence of the Lord for 40 days and nights, however, said, “I’ve seen the LORD. I know the LORD. The LORD is a friend of mine. And that, my friends, is NOT the LORD! That is a cow. Shut it down!”

JESUS IS NOT A TAME LION

In our day, the temptation is to rob Jesus of His divinity in order to make Him less scary to be around. We like the idea of the Lion laying down with the Lamb because it makes the Lion less intimidating. We like the Lamb of God, but we fear the Lion of Judah. Chesterton observed this tendency and described it this way, "We are constantly assured that when the lion lies down with the lamb, the lion becomes lamb-like. But that is brutal annexation and imperialism on the part of the lamb. That is simply the lamb absorbing the lion instead of the lion eating the lamb. The real problem is this -- Can the lion lie down with the lamb and still retain his royal ferocity?" 

Jesus is not a tame lion. He is not a domesticated house cat you can keep around to snuggle with when you feel lonely. If you declaw Him, muzzle Him, shave His mane, and castrate Him in order to make Him easier to live with, you’re not left with a “better” lion. What you’re left with isn’t a lion at all. But that is the Jesus most of our neighbors picture when they think about Him, and if we’re not careful, the same can happen to us. Jesus is both fully Lion and fully Lamb. How is that possible? The same way He is both fully man and fully God. Which is to say, it is a miracle. The miracle of the incarnation is what we celebrate and sing about at Christmas and the Chalcedonian Creed prepares our hearts and minds to dwell more rightly and to delight more fully upon it. May it be so this Christmas.

CALL TO CONFESSION

Well, since we are often too slow to think about who Jesus really is and too quick to fill in the gaps by making the rest up, we are reminded of our need to regularly confess our sins, whether they be related to this or to others. So, if you are able, please kneel with me and confess your sins, first privately and then corporately using the prayer found in your bulletin.

CORPORATE CONFESSION

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to Your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be justified in Your words and blameless in Your judgment. Cleanse me, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

DECLARATION OF PARDON

Arise and hear the Good News! The assurance of pardon today comes from Romans 4:4-8 “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’”

We are not forgiven because we understand who Jesus is or what He did for us. We are not saved by reciting the Chalcedonion Creed or by better understanding it. We are saved because of who Jesus is and what He has done for us whether we fully understand it or not. We are saved because there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for us all. And because He did that and because you have placed your faith in it, it is my pleasure to pronounce to you, that in Him, your sins are forgiven… THANKS BE TO GOD!

Now let us ascend to the presence of God in all worship and praise

day no. 17,533: my born identity (48 and counting)

I was born this day 48 years ago in 1978. 48 is half of 96. 96 would be an exceptionally long life. In all likelihood then, I am in the third quarter of my life. The band has left the field and all of the halftime adjustments are being made. By God's grace, I hope to have a lot left in the tank as I hear my coach and the crowd of saints cry out, "Four quarters!"

Hebrews 12:2

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

day no. 17,532: a word to your moms

On this day, two moms were born. One was my mom and the other was my wife's mom. My grandmother and my wife's grandmother gave birth to the little girls who would grow up to give birth to my wife and I respectively. My wife is the mother of my children. Ten souls owe their existence to the two moms who were born on this day. If not for them, their parents would not exist. 

So, three cheers for the two moms who were born on this day and kudos to the two moms who gave birth to them.

day no. 17,531: paperclips and repentance

“Men who resent being warned are men who have already neglected too many warnings.” ― Douglas Wilson, Concise and to the Point 

A man of God must be confident in Christ and His commands enough to go forward in faith and humble enough to pause when godly men call him into question.

The man who ignores good counsel comes to resent all counsel accept that which already agrees with what he has decided to do. And the longer he does this the harder it gets to go back and the closer he gets to game over.

Proverbs 29:1

He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, 

shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

Paperclips do not break because they get too soft, they break because they get too hard. The bend because they are soft, they break because they are hardened. 

The same can be said for me. They bend because they are soft and if the compromise too many times they become hardened to purity and snap like an overworked paperclip.

day no. 17,530: when moral retards turn mischief into mandates

"Since the early seventies, most of the abortion carnage, with tens of millions of children killed, was imposed on our nation by means of judicial activism at the federal level. Most notably, the Roe decision in 1973 struck down the restrictive laws of most states. It was judicial tyranny . . . a tyranny that we in our state-level moral cowardice decided to put up with. At the state level, there was real sin on the part of the general populace, and on the part of the lesser magistrates, in that we did not rise up and refuse to have anything to do with such a wicked decision. 'Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?' (Psalm 94:20). Our reply to the federal government at that time ought to have been 'whatever you think you have the right to do to babies, we are not going to allow that to be done to ours.'” ― Douglas Wilson, Idaho and the Abyss

Mischief should not be made into law.

Exodus 21:22-23

If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life

Abortion is mischief. It is killing a child inside his mother's womb.

We should have nothing to do with any of this and our states should have refused to along with the black robed moral retards. We need lesser magistrates to protect us from the madness of Maryland.

day no. 17,529: angel blades

"Not everything can be resolved through kindness, which is why angels carry swords, not flowers.” ― anonymous

We must wage war on earth as it once was waged in Heaven. 

Michael and his angels warred against the Devil and won a great victory. 

Blows were dealt and banishments were dealt out.

Angels do not open carry for the optics, they do so for the practical need. You never know when you will have to put down some demonic dog of Hell. 

Learn from the angels: stay strapped or get clapped.

day no. 17,528: blood sacraments

"On the Last Day, we are told expressly that every cup of cold water given in the name of Christ is going to be remembered (Matt. 10:42). And it is not possible for this to be true without it also being the case that for every drop of innocent blood shed there will be a savage reckoning. This is a foundational biblical truth. Blood answers blood." ― Douglas Wilson, Idaho and the Abyss

Every cup of cold water will be rewarded and every ounce of human blood shed by sin will be recompensed. The ground cries out for vengeance.

"Scripture tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins (Heb. 9:22). This would include the need for forgiveness when the sin was the wickedness of ungodly bloodshed. Even unbelievers understand this principle instinctively, which is why there is no turning away from Christ without simultaneously turning toward the shedding of blood in grotesque ways."  ― Douglas Wilson, Idaho and the Abyss

Blood sacraments are inescapable. Those who hate God, love death and those who refuse to come to the Lord's Table find other places to sacrifice victims. There will be blood. Casting shade at Christianity as a barbaric, backwards religion has not stopped millions of feminists from butchering their own babies under no more duress to do so than their own felt needs.

"In a vain attempt to wash away the stain of guilt and blame, the unbelieving heart turns naturally toward the shedding of innocent blood, following their great carnal principle, which is 'your life for mine.' This is the opposite of the great Christ-example, which is 'my life for yours.' In doing this great wickedness, they have inverted the entire moral order, and pulled down deep heaven upon their heads."  ― Douglas Wilson, Idaho and the Abyss

Abortion is the demonic parody of the Lord's Supper. Instead of coming to receive the completed work of, "My body for yours," they routinely return to the fount of "Your body for mine," which is a river that runs red with the blood of others.

day no. 17,527: making a name for yourself (sermon outline)

Christ Church Leavenworth

Philippians 2:19-30

October 18, 2026

…

OT READING: 2 Kings 5:1-19

NT READING: 2 Timothy 1:1-14

"Making a Name for Yourself"

READING OF THE TEXT

Our text this morning is Philippians 2:19-30, these are the words of God

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of our God stands forever.

PRAYER

Our Father and our God, we come before You this morning through Jesus Christ, our Lord, and in the Holy Spirit. Thank You for Your Word. Help us to hold it in high and reverent esteem, persuaded that by it we live and not live by bread alone. Fill us now with Your Spirit that we might hear Your Word for what it is and apply it like our lives depend upon it. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

INTRODUCTION

There are two ways a man can make a name for himself. One way is to become who you already are and the other is to become someone else. Let me provide an example of each. My children bear my last name: they are, therefore, Van Voorsts. But there is more to being a Van Voorst than simply having that be your last name. Van Voorsts have a particular flavor. There are things we do, songs we sing, foods we eat, movies we watch, etc… My sons and daughters are Van Voorsts in name by default, but being a Van Voorst in spirit is a decision they have to make. If they continue in what they have been taught, they will make a name for themselves by establishing themselves as Van Voorsts and making it their own, but If they depart from what they have been taught, they will make a name for themselves by redefining what it means to be a Van Voorst and making it into something else.

So, making a name for yourself can be an act of faith or it can be an act of breaking faith, it all depends on what you are embracing or what you are abandoning. Consider it from another angle. Take the people of Crete, for example. They were, by nature, according to Titus 1:12, liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons. Now, if you were born into that, you could live up to it and be a Cretan or you could make a name for yourself by breaking away from it. In other words, you could be a pleasant surprise or an unpleasant stereotype. Making a name for yourself can be faithful or faithless, it depends on the name you have and what you do with it.

So, if you are born into a Christian family, you can make a name for yourself by walking in a manner worthy of your baptism, thus becoming what you are, a Christian; or you can be a Christian in name only and make a name for yourself by forsaking the God of your father and mother. Making a name for yourself is inescapable. It isn’t IF you will do it, it is WHICH way you will do it. 

So, children of Christ Church, you were born into Christian homes. God has called you to obey your parents in the Lord, and this is right. One way to do that is to carry on what they are teaching you and never depart from it. So, make that decision right now. Remember who you are, Christian, and wear that name well. You have no idea how blessed you are, but someday you will. Do not take this for granted, take it with gratitude, and then get to work. Some of your parents were not as fortunate as you are. They are giving you a better life than they had. Some of them were born into some hot messes and others were born into big ol’ batches of lukewarm yuck. But they made a name for themselves by breaking away from that. Do not look a grace horse in the mouth. Honor God, honor your parents. 

Some of your parents were born into Christian homes and going to the grandparents means going to visit Christians. Do not neglect the privilege you have been born into. Do not squander it. 3 John 4 says this, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” Kids, do you want to get your parents a present? Walk in the truth. And do it in such a tangible, obvious way that anyone can see that you are a child of God. Our church, like most, is made up of both those who made a name for themselves by carrying on the Christian tradition of their parents and those who broke free from the pagan ways of their parents. We will see examples of both in our text this morning. Before we do that, however, let’s first consider the context of our passage by briefly reviewing Php 2:1-18.

SUMMARY OF THE CONTEXT

:1-2 begin with the example of Jesus. He made a name for Himself by becoming who He was born to be. He was given the name “Jesus,” before He was born because He was “to save His people from their sins.” And He wore His name well. As a result, the Father established His Name as high and exalted above all others. Jesus did not prove He was His own man by walking His own path, no, He proved Himself worthy of the Name He was given by walking in the good works prepared for Him beforehand. He made a name for Himself by being who He was born to be. He owned His name and as a result His Name was established by God.

:3-11 then go on to encourage us to do the same. We should be of the same mind, have the same love, and walk in the same way that Jesus did in the days of His flesh. When we do, our joy is complete and when we don’t, we are miserable.

If Christ, who was God incarnate, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, how much less should we? If “He humbled himself to the point of death,” how much more should we? God opposes the proud, and He gives grace to the humble and Christ is a perfect example. He was humiliated in broad daylight, but “God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that to Him every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God.”

:12-18 go on to apply this in more detail. Making a name for yourself means establishing who you are and what you do when no one else is watching. The child who only obeys when he is being supervised is not a true child. He might love his parents enough to honor the standard in their presence, but he does not love their standard in his heart. Those who love the standard keep it within even when it’s not being enforced from without. So much so, that they will even keep it when the enforcement is working in the opposite direction. A Christian obeys Christ even if the law forbids it and he disobeys the law when it commands him to disobey Christ. If you love the Lord, you will kneel before Him even when someone else commands you to rise in defiance; and you will stand before lawless men even when they demand that you bow before them. Obedience is only as good as the one it obeys. It is not a virtue by default. Parents of obedient kids, beware. Make sure that one of your rules for them is that they do not simply obey whatever rules they come in contact with. If they pinch the incense or wear the mask simply because someone told them to, they will not inherit the earth because that is not meekness, it is weakness. Instead, raise them to be Daniels, Meshachs, Shadrachs, and Abednegos who know how to obey God by defying tyrants. Obedience is only as good as what and who it obeys.

We have to work out what God has worked in and every covenant child must work out the name they’ve inherited. Those who go with the grain of God will not grumble or complain about their lots in life. They will instead carry their crosses and conduct themselves like Christians. This will differentiate them so much from the world around them that they will look like stars in the night sky by comparison. So, Christian, live up to your legacy. Shine brightly. Don’t tell me you’re a star, stand up and stand out against the backdrop of this evil generation. Be a sharp contrast. 

Don’t tell me you’re an apple tree, make some apples. Live up to your name. As the Lord said,“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit... A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Mt 7:18-20, 12:33) Hebrews warns us in a similar fashion in 6:7-12, when it says, “Land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” 

You cannot cosplay Christianity. You must be earnest. Place your faith in Him and you will have full assurance and your family and friends will be assured that you are the real deal. So, Christian, be who you are, and look to those who labor for your souls. Paul labored for the Philippians. He poured himself out for them in the hopes that they would get the message and pour themselves out for others. Pr 11:25 reminds us, “The one who waters will himself be watered.” So, are you feeling dry? Do not sit around waiting to be watered, pour yourself out and living waters will well up within you. Our text today provides several examples of this.

SUMMARY OF THE TIMOTHY TEXT

The first is Timothy. :19 “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you.” So, Paul is in prison, but Timothy is with him. Paul is bound to the wall by chains and Timothy is bound to Paul by love. As such, he is a comfort and help to Paul. In all likelihood, Paul needs Timothy far more than the Philippians do, yet he is hoping to send him to them soon. He wants to encourage them and in turn he wants to be encouraged by news of them. He has confidence in the Philippians. He fully expects Timothy to find them doing well and he is excited to hear about what they have been up to. Be like the Philippians in this regard. Be dependable. Be reliable. Be consistently Christlike.

Paul did not merely want to be comforted, he wanted to comfort others, and so, he is willing to give up one of the best things he has in order to share it to the ones he loves. He needs Timothy more than the Philippians do, but he loves the Philippians more than he loves himself. And Timothy, his disciple, did not fall far from the tree as we see in the next verse.

:20-21 “For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.” Being interested in others is the interest of Christ. He did not carry the cross to get Himself to Heaven. He suffered for the sake of others. Self interest is the native language of the human soul and being interested in others is a foreign language. Selfishness is natural, selflessness is supernatural. Looking to the interests of others requires you to be in this world, but not of it. If you are not in the world, you will not even notice others – all of your “religion” will take place in high and lofty thoughts about God, but it won’t make a lick of difference down here. You will be too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good. But if you are of the world, you will only notice others when you see that they are not paying enough attention to you. The Christian, on the other hand, is here for others – he is in the world, but not of it. That begins by seeing others and goes on to see their needs, but it ends with making their needs your concern and doing something about it.

:22 “But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.” Children, for better or worse, often take after their fathers. Mal 4:6 makes it clear that fathers and sons doing this in a godly way is a sign that things are headed in the right direction. It is a sign that we are healing. Now, for some this analogy makes sense in theory, but it does not resonate with your reality. You may agree that this is the way things ought to be, but you know, firsthand, that fathers do not always uphold their end of the bargain. If that is you, take a cue from Timothy. Paul was not his biological father, but he was a father figure. God is a Father to the fatherless and He often provides father figures where biological fathers have failed. We do not know much about Timothy’s father except that he was a Greek and did not allow his son to be circumcised. We also know that he was raised and influenced more by his mother and her side of the family than by his father and his Greek heritage. In other words, Timothy may have had a Greek last name, but he made a name for himself. He did not follow in the footsteps of his father, he put his feet on the narrow path of God.

:23-24 “I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.” As we’ve mentioned before, being imprisoned was a precarious situation, not merely because you were awaiting a trial, but because while you waited, you needed outside help to stay warm and fed. This is why Paul’s letters often include requests for things like letters and cloaks. Prison cells were not climate controlled back then and there wasn’t a TV to watch. As such, Paul knew he would need Timothy a little bit longer if there was to be any hope of him surviving. Yet he wanted to send whatever help he could as soon as he could. And that is why he is sending Epaphroditus back now, which is what our text goes on to address next.

SUMMARY OF THE EPAPHRODITUS TEXT

:25-26 “I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.” Consider the titles Paul here applies to Epaphroditus: my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, your messenger, and my minister. Paul was an apostle called by Christ Himself, but he was a brother to all Christians. He may have been an older brother, but he had the same Father. The same is true of us. We are brothers and sisters. Some are older brothers and some are little sisters, but we all have a Father in Heaven who makes us family. The same is true of the work we do. Paul had work God assigned him to do, but God has given us work as well. As important as Paul’s work was, he called Epaphroditus a fellow worker. We may have different roles and responsibilities, but we all work for the same Lord. This also applies to the battle we are engaged in. Paul fought the darkness of his day by destroying their arguments and taking thoughts captive to Christ. But he considered Epaphroditus a fellow soldier. They may have had different ranks and varying levels of combat experience, but they were enlisted in the same army. And the same is true of us. We are Paul’s brothers and sisters in Christ, we are his fellow workers in doing what God has called us to do, and we are his fellow soldiers as we fight the good fight and wage peace wherever we encounter the world. Look around the room. Do you see brothers, workers, soldiers? I do. Now, “consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” (Heb 13:7). Brothers are born for adversity and soldiers are tested in battle. 

Suffering well in your station solidifies your reputation. It makes you a messenger and a minister to others. Epaphroditus carried good news with him wherever he went and he ministered to whoever was in front of him. That is how you love your neighbors as yourself and avoid the death spiral of self-interest. Look to God, look around, get to work, and leave the results to God. John Adams said it this way, “We cannot insure success, but we can deserve it.” Waging war with honor does not guarantee you will win, but it does guarantee you will deserve it if you do. How  you fight matters. Winning is NOT everything. There are ways to “win” which nullify the victory. So, rest in obedience, not in results. If you do, you will be a brother, a worker, a soldier, a messenger, or a minister even if you suffer for it. Watching someone suffer is a peculiar hardship, but watching them suffer well is a peculiar blessing. Suffering well is a rare accomplishment. Suffering people are often selfish. I know this is a hard truth to hear, but bear with me. Suffering tends to turn one’s gaze within and it often draws one’s attention inward. It makes it hard to see others. So, if you are suffering today or if you end up suffering tomorrow, do not give in to the temptation to indulge your self-interest. Do not let your suffering define you and do not let it blind you to the needs of others. 

Consider the example of Epaphroditus. He did not allow his suffering to make him selfish. He fell ill, but his chief concern was not for himself. He was concerned for those who were concerned about him. He was worried about those who were worrying about him. Husbands and fathers, you understand this. If you get hurt in front of your wife or children, what do you do? Do you play it up to gain more sympathy? No. You play the man and play it down. Why? You don’t want your people to be worried about you. Wives and mothers, if you get sick, what do you do? Moan and groan and carry on so that your kids think you are dying? No. You get up and act like you’re ok. You don’t want your people to worry about you. It is your responsibility to worry about them and so you do whatever you can to ease their worries by not adding to them. The same kind of thing is happening here. Epaphroditus was able to suffer well because he was not the center of his thoughts. He cared about other people, not just when it was convenient or when he had the time, but when it was inconvenient and cost him something. Simply put, suffering well is a sign of a saint. So, how well do you suffer? Do you tempt others to put you out of your misery or do you inspire them to beg for your mercy? Epaphroditus loved others and as a result he was beloved as we see next.

:27 “Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.” Epaphroditus suffered well. We do not know how bad it was, but we know it was bad enough for Paul to think it was the end. And that is saying something considering Paul knew a little something about near death experiences. If the guy who has been beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, starved, and left for dead on multiple occasions says it looks bad… then it must have looked pretty bad. But God had mercy on both Epaphroditus and Paul by sparing Epaphroditus’ life and sparing Paul sorrow upon sorrow. He didn’t want to lose his friend and he didn’t want to have to write to the Philippians to regretfully inform them that their faithful friend had died far from home.

:28-30 “I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.” We are invited to join Paul in honoring those who serve well among us. Do not take them for granted; take them with gratitude. Honorable men are not a given and where honorable men are not honored, you will find less and less of them. Not because men need to be honored in order to act honorably, but because where honor is not honored, you will not produce the kind of people who can replace honorable men when they pass away. Romans 13:7 says it this way, “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” Honor and respect are not mercenary. They cannot, by definition, be done for the recognition. And so the duty to recognize, honor, and respect the honorable and respectable falls on us. We owe them that.

To borrow from Tolkien, “Men are better than gates.” The Philippians had sent money to Paul, which was great, but they sent more than that - they sent a man. Money does not make someone less lonely or bind up their wounds. Money can buy the bandages, but only hands can apply them. Money needs to be incarnate before it can do any tangible good. What good is a cold gold coin when you are freezing in a prison cell? And what good is a piece of paper with numbers on it when you are starving? A hundred dollar bill tastes the same as a one and neither will fill your belly. Money can buy bread and blankets, but you still need someone to deliver them for you if you are stuck in prison. Furthermore, the faces on the money make poor friends and the carvings on the coins cannot converse with you. Men are better than money and a good friend is better than a go fund me. That said, the money the Philippians sent really was a service to Paul, but sending Epaphroditus “completed their service.” They did not just send the means, they sent a man to administer them. That is ministry, literally ad + minister.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

We began our time today by discussing the idea of making a name for yourself. Let’s end our time by taking a closer look at the names of these two servants. The name Timothy means “honor God.” Timothy, as we mentioned, was raised in a Christian environment with a mother and grandmother who read the Bible to him. We saw this in our NT reading where Paul said, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” (2 Tim 1:5) Timothy’s mother’s family were faithful and brought him up in the faith. We see this again in 2 Tim 3:14-15 where Paul wrote, “Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Timothy’s mom did not name him “honor God” with her fingers crossed. She named him that and then she raised him accordingly. She brought him up to live up to his name. She did not merely assume he would “catch” her faith by osmosis, she taught him from the Scriptures. In other words, she gave him a Christian education. Timothy then made that name for himself by owning who he already was. He honored God and stayed true to his name. He was not Timothy in name only, he honored God in word and deed.

Epaphroditus, on the other hand, did not grow up in a Christian home. His name means, “devoted to Aphrodite.” So, his parents had something else in mind entirely. Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of “love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation,” so perhaps his parents saw him as a product of their love and wanted to say, “Thank you,” to Aphrodite for answering their prayers or perhaps they dedicated him to her to earn some future favor from her for themselves. We don’t know. But we do know that he grew up and made a name for himself by devoting his life to Christ. He was now “devoted to Aphrodite” in name only. God calls all kinds of people to Christ. Those born outside of the covenant are not prohibited from entering. Anyone can come in, if they come in the name of Christ. We saw this in our OT reading. Naaman was born outside of the covenant, but he died in it. As expected, that made life more interesting for him, as we saw, as he had to work out what it looked like to live a brand new way among old bad habits. But God takes us from where we are, not from where we should have been and He does not leave us where He met us, it is always onward and upward into Christ.

So, if you grew up in a Christian home, like Timothy, you must grow up into it, and if you grew up in a lukewarm or outright pagan place, like Epaphroditus, you must grow out of it. Parents, do not presume upon the Lord by getting lazy in your childrearing; and children, do not presume upon your parents’ faith without having any of your own. There is no cruise control Christianity. Make your calling and election sure. 2 Peter 1:10-11 “Brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Timothy and Epaphroditus both made names for themselves and both ended up being a great help to the apostle Paul. Some of you are going to have boring testimonies, like Timothy, and praise God for that, and some of you, may already have more interesting testimonies, like Epaphroditus, and thank God for that as well. You don’t have to have seen some stuff to be a Christian and having seen some stuff does not disqualify you from being a Christian. So, whatever you have seen and whatever you have done, turn a profit on it by turning it all to Christ. As Martin Luther once observed, "Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying.” So, make a name for yourself by believing in Christ. If you were born into a believing home, make a name for yourself by wearing it well; and if you were born into an unbelieving home, make a name for yourself by saying, ”Goodbye!” to the old you. If you are baptized, walk in a manner worthy of the name you wear on your head. Improve upon your baptism. If you are not baptized, consider this is your invitation. Repent and be baptized. 

Come, and welcome to Jesus Christ.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, give us the Spirit of wisdom in the knowledge of Christ. Open the eyes of our hearts and enlighten us that we may know what is the hope to which You have called us and appreciate the riches of Your glorious inheritance in the saints. Do this according to the working of Your great might that You worked in Christ when You raised Him from the dead and seated Him at Your right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. We ask all of this in Jesus’ Name and we now offer up the words of the prayer He taught us to pray singing…