day no. 17,444: did Adam bring about death or did death bring about Adam?

“There is also a deep theological problem with the view that death antedated mankind. The Bible teaches that Adam produced death. The opposing view has to say that in some manner death produced Adam.” — Douglas Wilson, Concise and to the Point

Darwinian evolution assumes that death is not an enemy, but a friend, who helped God produce people, but that also presupposes that death came before the Fall. We are told that the Fall of Adam led to the introduction of death for all men and the world around him. Even the ground and that which grew out of it was changed as a result of Adam's sin. As Pastor Wilson points out, either Adam's sin lead to death as the Bible says or many deaths led up to Adam as Darwinian evolution says. Death is either an enemy to be defeated or it is a savior to be praised. Death either delivers man into the presence of God or it delivers man out of nonexistence. It either takes him out of this world or it brought him into it. That is the chasm between the Biblical creation account of the world and what followed versus the atheistic, Darwinian account of existence and what follows.

day no. 17,443: unorthodox obedience (exhortation outline)

Christ Church Leavenworth

Jenny Geddes Day

July 26, 2026

Unorthodox Obedience

INTRODUCTION

Our text for this morning is Numbers 25:1-13, these are the words of God.

“While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.’ And Moses said to the judges of Israel, ‘Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.’

And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore say, “Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.”’”

This past Thursday marked the anniversary of one of the most memorable episodes in the history of the Scottish Reformation. The time was July 23rd in the year of our Lord 1637 and the place was St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland. That morning, James Hannay, the dean of the church, ascended to the pulpit, the same one behind which the great John Knox himself had once stood and preached; and standing there, he opened his mouth and attempted to supplant the liturgy of John Knox's Book of Common Order with a newly published Scottish version of the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer. I say “attempted” because he never finished. Before he could finish the reading, a simple milk maid in the congregation thwarted his attempted coup. Who was she and how did she do it? Her name was Jenny Geddes and the way she stopped him was by throwing her stool at his head. The Ballad of Jenny Geddes, a poem by John Stuart Blackie, colorfully recounts the details of that day.

‘Twas the twenty-third of July, in the sixteen thirty-seven,

On the Sabbath morn from high St. Giles the solemn peal was given;

King Charles had sworn that Scottish men should pray by printed rule;

He sent a book, but never dreamt of danger from a stool.

The Council and the Judges, with ermined pomp elate,

The Provost and the Bailies in gold and crimson state,

Fair silken-vested ladies, grave doctors of the school,

Were there to please the King, and learn the virtues of a stool.

The Bishop and the Dean came in wi’ muckle gravity,

Right smooth and sleek, but lordly pride was lurking in their e’e;

Their full lawn sleeves were blown and big, like seals in briny pool;

They bore a book, but little thought they soon should feel a stool.

The Dean he to the alter went, and, with a solemn look,

He cast his eyes to heaven, and read the curious-printed book:

In Jenny’s heart the blood upwelled with bitter anguish full;

Sudden she started to her legs, and stoutly grasped the stool!

As when a mountain wildcat springs upon a rabbit small,

So Jenny on the Dean springs, with gush of holy gall;

Wilt thou say mass at my lugs, thou popish-puling fool?

No! No! She said, and at his head she flung the three-legged stool.

A bump, a thump! A smash, a crash! Now gentle folks beware!

Stool after stool, like rattling hail, came twirling through the air,

With, well done, Jenny! Bravo, Jenny! That’s the proper tool!

When the Devil will out, and shows his snout, just meet him with a stool!

The Council and the Judges were smitten with strange fear,

The ladies and the Bailies their seats did deftly clear,

The Bishop and the Dean went in sorrow and in dool,

And all the Popish flummery fled when Jenny showed the stool!

And thus a mighty deed was done by Jenny’s valiant hand,

Black Prelacy and Popery she drove from Scottish land;

King Charles he was a shuffling knave, priest Laud a meddling fool,

But Jenny was a woman wise, who beat them with a stool!

Simple obedience to God will sometimes require a radical defiance to men. We saw this both in our text with Phinehas and in our story with Jenny Geddes. Walking with God will sometimes require you to step outside of your cultural moment. In the days of Phinehas, some people were laying down with the wrong people and the rest were weeping about it. The moment called for someone to stand up, and that’s what Phinehas did. In the days of Jenny Geddes, some people were compromising with Rome and the rest were silently watching it happen. The moment called for someone to take a stand, and that’s what Jenny did.

Where disobedience has become orthodox, obedience will look unorthodox. If everyone around you is compromising, taking a stand will make you stand out. Being moved by the world requires nothing more than drifting along, and nothing is easier to do than nothing. So, compared to those around them, the faithful will often appear unconventional. Our neighbors may find our faith a bit too much, but our descendants will honor our zeal as they admire the stars in the skies that stand out against the blackness.

Here is your application: if you don’t like the way things are going, don’t complain about it, do something about it. Consider Philippians 2:14-17, “Do all things without grumbling or complaining, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life.” Phinehas and Jenny are numbered among the stars. There are, of course, many others; so many, in fact, that Abraham could not count them, and if you stand up in the midst of this crooked generation, you will join them in standing out against the darkness. In order to do this, however, you will have to be willing to look unorthodox. When darkness is the reigning paradigm, light can break the pattern.

Douglas Wilson once noted that, “Desperate times call for faithful men, not for careful men. The careful men come later and write the biographies of the faithful men, lauding them for their courage.” There is a reason people write poems about Jenny Geddes and name their sons after Phinehas. We honor those who stood up when others were laying down. We recognize their courage and their unconventional approach to unconventional times. When the situation is desperate, a doer is more necessary than a documenter, but once the doing has been done, someone must document it. That is how good stories are made and that is how they are preserved. I am grateful for the actions of Jenny Geddes and for the words of John Stuart Blackie, and I stand on them both. I am inspired by the stand of Phinehas and by the words of Moses that tells his stor.

There is a place for both kinds of people. So, make sure you are telling the stories of our brothers and sisters who stood with God and then do something your kids will want to write stories about. We do not honor the likes of Phinehas and Jenny Geddes by compromising with our culture. We honor their unorthodox obedience by defying the darkness in our own day. This will require you to be unconventional, but all heroes are. That is why we tell their stories. So, preserve the memory of our ancestors by celebrating their achievements and bless the work of our descendants by giving them something else to celebrate.

CALL TO CONFESSION

Well, since we are so often too scared or too shy to take a risk in standing out and because we are often too quick to take for granted and forget those who did, we are reminded of our need to regularly confess our sins, whether they be these or 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.

DECLARATION OF PARDON

Arise and hear the Good News! The assurance of pardon today comes from Romans 5, “While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person— though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” 

Jesus did not die for those who deserved it, He died for those who didn’t. That is good news for sinners like you and me. He stood out as a light in the darkness and He now calls us to walk in a manner worthy of that reality. That begins by stepping out from the darkness within so that we might stand up to the darkness that is without, and that is what we just did. So now, having done that, go forward in the light of Christ, because 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. 17,442: choose for yourself this day from which cup you will drink

1 Corinthians 10:21

Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

You must choose which cup to partake in, but you cannot choose not to partake. Partaking is inescapable. It is woven into the warp and woof of the world. Covenantal realities are not optional. You are either in covenant with God or you are in covenant with devils. There is no neutrality. You are either in the old Adam or you are in the new One. You are either grieving the Spirit or you are glorifying God. You have a choice, but you do not have the choice to not choose. You have to choose and you are choosing. 

So, choose wisely. Where do you want to eat? Who do you want to sit by? Whose table do you want to be at? What do you want to eat and drink? The rule of Heaven is that God determines the menu and He has provided His Son as the meal. The rule of Hell is the illusion of choosing what you want to eat only to discover that it is was you who was on the menu. 

The Spirit of Christ says, "This is My Body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me, and this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you."

The spirit of antichrist says, "Bite and devour one another before you are consumed by another."

day no. 17,441: smart enough yet dumb enough

"We must begin by establishing our priorities... Sen. Eugene McCarthy once said that being a senator was a lot like being a football coach—you had to be smart enough to understand the game and dumb enough to think it was important." — Douglas Wilson, Athletics and Christian Community #1

Politics are like playing a game, you have to have the wherewithal to know how to play and to remember that's just a game. Politics is not altogether unimportant, but it is less important than the people playing the game think it is. Christ is King which makes everything political, but politics cannot save, only Jesus can... and politics itself needs to be saved.

“I doubt whether the best men ever would devote themselves to politics. The best men would devote themselves to pigs and babies and things like that.” — G.K. Chesterton

Politics is not just a game, because it has to be played. You don't have to play football and no one else necessarily does either, but if you don't play politics, someone else will and that just means your concerns won't be represented. The stakes are high and someone has to play, but only someone of low caliber would devote their everything to it. It's a job you take of of necessity in order to accomplish something else, not an end in itself.

"No one will really understand politics until they understand that politicians are not trying to solve our problems. They are trying to solve their own problems -- of which getting elected and re-elected are number one and number two. Whatever is number three is far behind." — Thomas Sowell

Only a scoundrel would see politics as an end in itself. It is necessary to legislate, but it is also necessary to realize that life is more than legislation. In fact, legislation should largely stay out of our lives. Legislation is for those who wants to infringe on the ability of others to live, be free, and pursue property and happiness.

day no. 17,440: fake and gay (pre-ripped jeans and post-mortem genes)

“Our culture has become as gay as pre-ripped jeans." — Toby Sumpter

We like the look of productivity without the work. Pre-ripped jeans require someone else to do more work so that you can look like you did more work than you did. 

"We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful." — C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man

We make fun of productive people and then wonder why the cost of production has gone up. We refuse to shoulder our share of the burden and then we wonder why everything has gotten so heavy. We want the rewards of responsibility without the sacrifices of being responsible. We are fake and gay. We have become fruitless trees and castrated geldings and then we have the audacity to mock husbandry.

"This is modernity's barbarism - hollow hearts led about by sterile matter, perversely mocking those with full lives." — Douglas Wilson, Angels in the Architecture

The childless cat ladies mock the mothers of six. They abort their own children and call themselves cat moms. But wisdom is justified by her children. You can leave your life's work to your cat, if it happens to outlive you, but your cat cannot do the same. You can throw your pearls before pigs you like, but you can't make a pig appreciate them.

day no. 17,439: panic is a portent

Philippians 1:28 (Moffatt)

Your fearlessness is a clear omen of ruin for them.

The fear of God makes it possible to be fearless. If you bow before Christ, you can stand before any man, any plan, any plot, etc... The fact that they are plotting and you are not is a sign of their impending doom and your eternal security. The propaganda is proof that the power of the Gospel is indomitable. They would not have to be trying so hard if they weren't worried. Hurry up offenses and hail mary's are not run by people who feel like they are in control. They are plays run by people who are in a panic and feel like their window of opportunity is running out.

Their irritation is a clear omen of their pending devastation.

Hebrews 12:27

And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 

God is about to shake things up. And when the boat begins to rock, the unstable will come crashing down. The established will be proven by their ability to endure. God has laid a foundation that cannot be quaked and anything built on it will stand the test of time and the shake of the quake that is coming.

day no. 17,438: real, limited authority

“I believe that, as Christian emissaries come to each of these nations to be discipled, the foundational cornerstone proclaimed by them is that Jesus is Lord. The first corollary to this is that Caesar isn’t lord, and so the first gift the Church brings, and the first point of repentance for the established authorities of each nation, is the liberating doctrine of limited government.” — Douglas Wilson, Concise and to the Point

Christ is the King of kings, so Caesar needs must get off his high horse. He has authority because Christ has invested it in him, but he has limited authority because it comes from somewhere else. Christ has authority in Himself. He deputizes lesser magistrates to particular jurisdictions: husbands to marriages, fathers to homes, governors to regions, and elders to churches. There is real authority in the head of the home because the Head of heads says so. There is real authority in the head of state because the Head of all states put it there. There is real authority in the head pastor because the Chief Shepherd stands behind him.

No earthly authority is absolute which is to say that all earthly authority is limited authority. It is real, but it is really limited. All masters answer to the Master and all rulers are measured by the Ruler of rulers. He is the measuring stick because He is the standard. And so, because God is good, we are able to tell when a governor isn't or when a husband isn't or when a pastor isn't. God is good, all of the time; all of the time, God is good. And so we set every lesser authority up against its Author to determine whether it is acting lawfully or rebelling against its jurisdiction. When a lesser authority goes to far, it is out of step and in sin. When a lesser authority does not go as far as it is required, it is not keeping up with what God has for it. In either case, it is in sin by falling short of its lesser glory or by attempting to take glory that does not belong to it.