day no. 17,320: american milk and honey

“Jesus is either the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, or He is not. There is no real way to split the difference on such a question. If the claim is false, then Christians are guilty of perpetuating the most preposterous fraud ever. If the claim is true, then pious Jews studying the Old Testament are like Shakespeare scholars who have devoted their lives to the study of Hamlet, but who have failed to recognize the prince of Denmark. As just mentioned, it is not possible to have Jesus be the Messiah ‘for the Christians' and not the Messiah ‘for the Jews.’ That might seem like a mild form of relativism, but relativism always metastasizes.” — Douglas Wilson, American Milk and Honey

Either Christians understand the Old Testament better than the Jews or they don't. If Jesus is the Christ, then they understand the prophets better than the Jews. But if Jesus is not the Christ, then the Christians have utterly confused and possibly even corrupted the teachings of the Old Testament.

“After the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, all they had left were their erroneous traditions. This is why modern Judaism is best considered a heresy of the Old Testament faith, and not a representation of it. To be a Christian is to maintain that the fulfillment of the Old Testament is in the Christ of the New Testament, and not in rabbinic Judaism.” — Douglas Wilson, American Milk and Honey

Modern Judaism is a Christian heresy. Since Jesus is the Christ, the entire Bible is Christian, thus making modern Jews heretics and apostates.

“The traditions that Jesus so violently rejected were the traditions of the first half of the Talmudic stream. Indeed, the Talmudic traditions of the elders were the reason why Jerusalem was judged so severely.” — Douglas Wilson, American Milk and Honey

Jesus rejected Talmudic Judaism. He confronted it and was killed by it. He rose from the dead to overcome it and came back in 70 AD to put an end to it. Jesus judged Jerusalem for its sins, the primary one being its rejection of Him and secondarily being its rejection of the prophesies concerning Him.

“So according to Christ, the rabbis had been supplanting the teaching of the Word of God for the sake of their traditions, and they had been doing this for centuries [Mark 7:6-13]. To be clear, what Jesus is talking about here is a gradually forming Talmud.” — Douglas Wilson, American Milk and Honey

The perverting of God's Word had been ongoing for sometime, but it did not fill up the measure of its sins until it met Jesus and rejected Him. Not only that, but it plotted against him and jury rigged a case against Him in order to snuff Him out. It did not merely reject Him for their own purposes, but it tried to ensure His wholesale rejection by having Him killed.

“Many Christians, particularly some in the dispensational tradition, regard our differences with the Jews as extreme denominational differences, but still somehow within the pale. But modern Judaism is not the religion of the Old Testament. It is something else entirely. It is not the biblical faith with Jesus left out.” — Douglas Wilson, American Milk and Honey

Judaism is not just the Old Testament faith marching past Christ until our present day. The Old Testament faith culminated in the coming of Christ. Adam was a Christian. Abraham was a Christian. Moses was a Christian. David was a Christian. They looked forward to His day.  There was no way to hold the Old Testament faith that did not involve looking ahead to the Messiah. You cannot reject the Messiah and say that you are still in the Old Testament faith. To reject Jesus is to admit that you were never part of the Old Testament faith. Whatever you believed and continue to believe at that point, based on your rejection of Him, is apostate, heretical, and antichrist in its inception. Any form of Old Testament religion that continued after the ascension of Christ was antichrist by nature. It was based on a rejection of Him. That was the foundation of the faith. The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD removed any attempt to pretend differently. The old system came to an end. The only way to perpetuate something beyond that was to hold to a heretical version of it you already had for such a time as this.

“The New Testament warning, delivered to the Gentiles, is [to] not become like your persecutors. Do not turn into your adversary. If you turn into what you hate, it indicates you only thought you hated their sleek arrogance of power. You didn’t hate it—you envied it.” — Douglas Wilson, American Milk and Honey

Christianity hates Judaism the way it hates Islam. Both are Christian heresies and both should be met with fierce opposition. But we do not hate the Jews the way the Jews hated Jesus. We do not hate the Muslims the way they hate us. We hate Allah because we hate evil. We hate Judaism because we hate evil. But we love our enemies. We love them well by opposing them well. And it goes without saying that supporting their efforts is not opposing them well because it is not opposing them at all.

day no. 17,319: apostasy and liberty

"Religious liberty was a development that grew up out of the Protestant West. It is our baby. We invented it. So people shouldn’t talk as though a decided Protestant culture is the enemy of such liberty . . . it is the historic foundation for it. So a Protestant approach to religious liberty will preserve the maximum amount of religious liberty, including for Catholics, while an absolutist and blind embrace of the idol 'religious liberty' will destroy religious liberty. We must have fences; we must have form and freedom together. Christ can provide that, while the Void provides nothing." — Douglas Wilson, Virgin Mary Parades in a Free Republic

We live in a time where people utilize their freedom of speech to deride the thing that gave them that freedom. That is permissible, but it is foolish. They should be allowed to be stupid, but their stupidity should not go unchallenged. You can make an idol out of the second commandment just as you can make one out of the first amendment. There is a way to use a regulation to cause irregularities. There is a way to use freedom to restrict freedom. 

Freedom of conscience and freedom of speech are not secular values. Time and chance acting on matter do not produce "diversity is our strength." Only apostasy can create such a thing. The secular West is merely the apostate West. It is like the prodigal son spending all its inheritance on worthless things. It has money in the bank because of where and when it was born, but it can only waste its inheritance on loose living. It cannot build any capital that way. It will have nothing to pass along, even the freedom of speech and conscience that it has enjoyed will be taken from its children if it does not come to it senses in the midst of the pig slop.

Unless the West returns to Christ, it will starve to death.

John 6:35

And Jesus said unto them, "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

day no. 17,318: wickedness and weakness

"A civilization is not destroyed by wicked men; it is destroyed by weak men who cannot defend what is good.” — G. K. Chesterton

Civilizations undefended lead to barbarism unintended. 

Weakness is worse than wickedness. Good men who are not good at being men are no better than wicked men. Wickedness, for all its faults, never skips leg day. It is always raring to go and it keeps its eye on the prize. Goodness, for all it virtues, sometimes gets soft. It prefers peace to war and so it sometimes forgets that it is in war. Wickedness never forgets.

“Every high civilization decays by forgetting obvious things.” — G.K. Chesterton

Society's are smashed from without because they have gone soft from within. They end up with rosters rounded out by round men who cannot rise up to defend their people. Civilization, if it is not in shape, will be overcome by barbarism.

“If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.” — Thomas Sowell

If civilization cannot or will not use force, it will be conquered by that which will. Barbarism is brutalitarian. It believes that might makes right and if the right have no might to debate with, the battle will soon be over. The good, the true, and the beautiful can make a better case for their way of life being better, but if they cannot meet the force of the bad, the false, and the ugly, their force will overrun civiilization.

In short, a civilization can only be defeated by the inferiority of chaos by forfeiting its strengths. If it adopts a "diversity is our strength" mentality, they deserve the whooping they're about to get.

day no. 17,317: a charitable esteem of our neighbors (exhortation outline)

Christ Church Leavenworth

WLC 144: A Charitable Esteem of Our Neighbors

March 22, 2026

A Charitable Esteem of Our Neighbors

INTRODUCTION

This morning we are continuing our study of Q144 of the WLC which asks, “What are the duties required in the ninth commandment?” The ninth commandment, as you recall, is “You shall not bear false witness” and the duties associated with it, according to the answer provided by the Westminster divines, are as follows: “the preserving and promoting of truth between man and man, and the good name of our neighbour, as well as our own; appearing and standing for the truth; and from the heart, sincerely, freely, clearly, and fully, speaking the truth, and only the truth, in matters of judgment and justice, and in all other things whatsoever; a charitable esteem of our neighbours; loving, desiring, and rejoicing in their good name; sorrowing for, and covering of their infirmities; freely acknowledging of their gifts and graces, defending their innocency; a ready receiving of a good report, and unwillingness to admit of an evil report, concerning them; discouraging tale-bearers, flatterers, and slanderers; love and care of our own good name, and defending it when need requireth; keeping of lawful promises; and studying and practicing of whatsoever things are true, honest, lovely, and of good report.”

The phrase on which we will be focusing this morning is, “a charitable esteem of our neighbours” and the text we will be using to frame our discussion is Ephesians 4:29, these are the words of God: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

There are two ways to love our neighbor with our words. One is to not say hurtful things about them or to them. The other is to say encouraging things about them or to them. One of the most discouraging things you can do to your neighbor is to speak ill of them to others in their presence. Conversely, one of the most uplifting things you can do is to praise them to others in their presence.

So, fathers, make sure you are regularly praising your children. Look for things to reward with kind words. Do not allow yourself to become the stereotype the Freudians say that you are. God the Father is not cold or distant, and you should not be either. This is, however, a besetting sin of fathers, as the Bible points out. In Ephesians 6:4, it says this: "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord,” and in Colossians 3:21 it says this: “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.” In both cases, you end up with an angry, discouraged child. Father hunger is the result of too many critical words and not enough encouragement. So, look for ways to charitably esteem your kids. Do not raise them in doubt. Believe the best about them. Raise them in faith by showing them how to have some. Do not camp on the most difficult parts of their character. If you are tempted to think of your children in terms of their cost, do better PR work for them in your own soul. Do not let your heart run a smear campaign on them. Block those messages.

We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. And whose sins do we know better than our own? Yet we still love ourselves and that is because love covers a multitude of sins. Let us then do for others what we’re already doing for ourselves. We should think as well of our neighbors as we can. Granted, some of them make this harder for us than others, but we aren’t talking about their duty to be as lovable and respectable as they can this morning, we are talking about your duty to give them as much love and respect as you can.

We should do our best to make a case for our neighbor because building a case against them in our hearts is a sin. In fact, it is satanic. Satan is “the accuser of the brothers” according to Revelation 12:10. He does not carry water for anyone. He spends his time looking for things to be upset about, and as a result, he is always upset. And if we are not careful, we can fall into those same satanic trap. When we envy others, we are slow to see their merits. Why did they get that? They don’t deserve it. When we are bitter towards others, we are eager to entertain accusations about them. Ugh, that sounds like something he would do. We often convict our neighbors of wrongdoing in the courtrooms of our hearts without giving them a fair trial. We accept speculation as testimony, we allow hearsay to be submitted into evidence, and we don’t allow them to defend themselves. We don’t make a case for them. But that is not how God deals with us. 

Psalm 103:13-14: “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.” Remember your neighbor’s frame. He gets scared, just like you. He gets stressed out, just like you. He fails to plan sometimes, just like you. He says things he shouldn’t, just like you. He forgets to say things he should, just like you. He even forgets to use his blinker sometimes, just like you have. If you need any help being charitable with your neighbor, look no further than the charitable esteem you give to the neighbor you know the best: the one that looks back at you in the mirror each morning. And then remember how much charity our Father in Heaven extends to that guy. Who are we that God is mindful of us? How have we captured His attention and even gained His affection? He extends a charitable esteem to us. That’s how. He loves the unlovely. He is kind to the unkind. He remembers that we are dust, but He doesn’t treat us like dirt. He knows that we are beneath Him, and so He bends down to be with us. And that is how we must treat our neighbors. Remember their frame and then frame them in the best light possible.

CALL TO CONFESSION

Well, since we are better at looking to our own interests than we are at looking to the interests of others and since we are better at giving ourselves the benefit of the doubt than we are at giving that benefit to others, we are reminded of our need to regularly confess our sins, whether they be related to this duty 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

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. Amen.

DECLARATION OF PARDON

Arise and hear the Good News! The assurance of pardon today comes from Galatians 2:16 “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” We are not loved because we were lovely, we are becoming more and more lovely because God has loved us. He has not treated us as our sins have deserved. He has been charitable in His esteem for us. While we were yet sinners, He died for us and while we were still His enemies, He looked for ways to be friendly. O, what a friend we have in Jesus, for in Him our sins are forgiven… THANKS BE TO GOD!

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

day no. 17,316: realignment

“The spirit in us veers toward envy, like the front end of a car that needs to be aligned.” — Douglas Wilson, All the Condemnation

We are bent. 

We, by default, lean into sin and away from God. We are like a car with misaligned tires. We can drive straight when our steering wheels are being held firmly, but the second Jesus lets go of the wheel, we are right back to swerving. We are prone to wander. 

The grace of God is Him grabbing the wheel. Grace upon grace is Him driving us to His Word to be realigned. His Word does the alignment and His Son pays the bill. His Spirit takes the wheel and gets us back onto the road. 

We cannot drive straight without Him at the wheel and we cannot keep our wheels aligned without His ongoing maintenance. The world is full of pot holes and curb checks, but God keeps us on the straight and narrow.

day no. 17,315: to accept warriorettes is to accept defeat

"Battles are ugly when women fight.” — C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia, book 1: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

Battles are never pretty, but they are never uglier as when they involve women on the battle front. Women were made to help men by holding down the fort, not by having their six. 

In short, women in warfare are ugly.

"When a woman puts up her fists to a man she is putting herself in the only posture in which he is not afraid of her. He can be afraid of her speech and still more of her silence; but force reminds him of a rusted but very real weapon of which he has grown ashamed." — G.K. Chesterton, A Miscellany of Men

There are few things more embarrassing than beating a girl. If you win, you lose and if you lose, you lose.

“Any nation that defends herself with women in combat is not worth defending.” — Douglas Wilson, A Christian View of War

Any nation that sends its women off to war has already lost the war. Even if they win, they lose. Their behavior is indefensible even if their borders still are.

“A nation that sends its women to fight its wars is not worth defending.” — Pat Buchanan

Allowing women to fight in your place is embarrassing enough, but forcing them to fight is worse. Conscripting anyone is a sin, but conscripting women is a double sin. No woman should be fighting on the front lines and no woman should want to. And no man should force a woman to fight who doesn't want to. The man that would do that should be ashamed. He is worse than an unbeliever.You should not defend the indefensible. It is unconscionable to send women and children to die in order to save the men.

Jeremiah 51:30

The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.

If you win the men, you win the war.  But if you send your women our into harm's way, your homes are already forfeit. If you've lost the men, you've lost the war and someone else's men are soon to be your masters. If your men are content to send men to war, you don't have men anymore. Your men have become women. 

To accept warriorettes is to accept defeat.

day no. 17,314: majority rule and mob rule

“You can never have a revolution in order to establish a democracy. You must have a democracy in order to have a revolution.” – G.K. Chesterton, The Wind and the Trees from Tremendous Trifles

You cannot have mob rule without majority rule. You cannot have a revolution without mass rebellion. The voice of the people is not the voice of God. There is nothing inherently binding about the majority opinion. The minority may suffer at the hands of the majority for not being on board with the popular opinion, but that is merely might making right. That does not make might good or true or beautiful. In order to have that, there must be a standard that reigns over the majority and the minority. There can be more or less popular ways to try to achieve an agreed upon standard, but without a standard that rules over them both, you will have have mob where you have a majority.

“I am a [proponent of democracy] because I believe in the Fall of Man. I think most people are democrats for the opposite reason. A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that every one deserved a share in the government. The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they’re not true… I find that they’re not true without looking further than myself. I don’t deserve a share in governing a hen-roost. Much less a nation. . . . The real reason for democracy is just the reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows.” — C.S. Lewis, Present Concerns

Democracy does not keep the mob in check, but it does keep one maniac from being without checks and balances. The doctrine of total depravity serves as a standard to govern those in the majority and those in the minority. It governs those who have the votes and those who don't. Democracy, while still less than ideal, when governed by that understanding, can make a go of it as it has in the United States for the last 250 years.