Westminster Directory for the Publick Worship of God, Concerning Publick Solemn Fasting.

WHEN some great and notable judgments are either inflicted upon a people, or apparently imminent, or by some extraordinary provocations notoriously deserved; as also when some special blessing is to be sought and obtained, publick solemn fasting (which is to continue the whole day) is a duty that God expecteth from that nation or people.

A religious fast requires total abstinence, not only from all food, (unless bodily weakness do manifestly disable from holding out till the fast be ended, in which case somewhat may be taken, yet very sparingly, to support nature, when ready to faint,) but also from all worldly labour, discourses, and thoughts, and from all bodily delights, and such like, (although at other times lawful,) rich apparel, ornaments, and such like, during the fast; and much more from whatever is in the nature or use scandalous and offensive, as gaudish attire, lascivious habits and gestures, and other vanities of either sex; which we recommend to all ministers, in their places, diligently and zealously to reprove, as at other times, so especially at a fast, without respect of persons, as there shall be occasion.

Before the publick meeting, each family and person apart are privately to use all religious care to prepare their hearts to such a solemn work, and to be early at the congregation.

So large a portion of the day as conveniently may be, is to be spent in publick reading and preaching of the word, with singing of psalms, fit to quicken affections suitable to such a duty: but especially in prayer, to this or the like effect:

“Giving glory to the great Majesty of God, the Creator, Preserver, and supreme Ruler of all the world, the better to affect us thereby with an holy reverence and awe of him; acknowledging his manifold, great, and tender mercies, especially to the church and nation, the more effectually to soften and abase our hearts before him; humbly confessing of sins of all sorts, with their several aggravations; justifying God’s righteous judgments, as being far less than our sins do deserve; yet humbly and earnestly imploring his mercy and grace for ourselves, the church and nation, for our king, and all in authority, and for all others for whom we are bound to pray, (according as the present exigent requireth,) with more special importunity and enlargement than at other times; applying by faith the promises and goodness of God for pardon, help, and deliverance from the evils felt, feared, or deserved; and for obtaining the blessings which we need and expect; together with a giving up of ourselves wholly and for ever unto the Lord.”

In all these, the ministers, who are the mouths of the people unto God, ought so to speak from their hearts, upon serious and thorough premeditation of them, that both themselves and their people may be much affected, and even melted thereby, especially with sorrow for their sins; that it may be indeed a day of deep humiliation and afflicting of the soul.

Special choice is to be made of such scriptures to be read, and of such tests for preaching, as may best work the hearts of the hearers to the special business of the day, and most dispose them to humiliation and repentance: insisting most on those particulars which each minister’s observation and experience tells him are most conducing to the edification and reformation of that congregation to which he preacheth.

Before the close of the publick duties, the minister is, in his own and the people’s name, to engage his and their hearts to be the Lord’s, with professed purpose and resolution to reform whatever is amiss among them, and more particularly such sins as they have been more remarkably guilty of; and to draw near unto God, and to walk more closely and faithfully with him in new obedience, than ever before.

He is also to admonish the people, with all importunity, that the work of that day doth not end with the publick duties of it, but that they are so to improve the remainder of the day, and of their whole life, in reinforcing upon themselves and their families in private all those godly affections and resolutions which they professed in publick, as that they may be settled in their hearts for ever, and themselves may more sensibly find that God hath smelt a sweet savour in Christ from their performances, and is pacified towards them, by answers of grace, in pardoning of sin, in removing of judgments, in averting or preventing of plagues, and in conferring of blessings, suitable to the conditions and prayers of his people, by Jesus Christ.

Besides solemn and general fasts enjoined by authority, we judge that, at other times, congregations may keep days of fasting, as divine providence shall administer unto them special occasion; and also that families may do the same, so it be not on days wherein the congregation to which they do belong is to meet for fasting, or other publick duties of worship.

Minnesota

 So who primarily is responsible for indoctrinating into Leftism all those who seem to have lost their minds in Minnesota?

The universities.

I’m echoing a point I’ve made online for years. Understand that when you’re supporting the sports team of whatever university you choose, over in the education part of that university they’re busily turning hordes of youth against their Christian upbringings and creating Communists living in immorality.

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A people who will not accept their responsibilities will have their rights taken away from them. A people that will not obey the Law of God will have the laws of men multiplied over them.

Like or don’t like what’s happening in Minnesota, from whatever political perspective you want. The end result was always going to be this, or some version of it.

Educating Your Congregation

 Things churches too often don’t have the courage to address in a direct manner, from their pulpits, that they should:

1.) Church history. It should at least be taught to a congregation in a basic overview sort of way, and your people should be taught your congregation’s theological roots. If you aren’t addressing it head on, why not?

2.) Systematic theology. Not laying doctrine out in a systematic way simply leads to a confused people.

3.) The cults and heretics of the present day. You need to be able and willing to tell people, from the pulpit, what’s wrong with Mormonism, Unitarianism, Joel Osteen, etc. Expecting them to just take your basic preaching through the Bible and figure it out on their own isn’t enough.

4.) A basic approach to politics and the culture.

If these things aren’t taught systematically in Sunday morning worship, they need to be taught in some other fashion, in the church, during the week. You can’t just leave it to the people to figure these things out for themselves alone. They won’t.

The Judge of All the Earth

 A group of Buddhist monks walks across the country, west to east, promoting a false religion, and deceiving many who were already in rebellion against God and ready to be even more deceived.

Immediately following in their path comes a massive winter storm that threatens to cripple a significant portion of the country.

Mull that over, and take it seriously.

The God of the Old and New Testaments is the same today as He was in days of old. And He is still active throughout the earth, blessing the righteous, those who walk in faithfulness to His covenant, and judging those who refuse to honor, worship, and obey Him.

A Statement of Evangelical Concern

 From one of the newspapers of Greensboro, N.C., early June 1963, in response to the race demonstrations of the time. It was written and signed by a handful of local ministers. I have posted this here before, but thought it would be good to do so again.

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A Statement of Evangelical Concern

We, the undersigned, as individual believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, desire, in view of the racial tensions now distressing our city and nation, to set forth the following statement of evangelical concern:

1. Our only recourse in this or any problem is to the God of the Bible and the Lord of History. Because He is the One with Whom we have to do, we "cease from man" and every human solution. We also bow to the truth that "God is no respecter of persons." He plays no racial favorites, but all men are accountable to Him, their Creator and Judge, on the basis of their common humanity. (Ps. 60:11, Jer. 3:23, Acts 10:34, Rom. 14:14.)

2. The humanity which men share, however, has been deeply dyed by sin with the result that they are estranged both from God and from each other. No longer do they view their fellows, as God does, without partiality. Rather do their sinful natures express themselves by an inborn pride which glories, among other things, in racial distinctions. (Rom. 3:23, Is. 59:2, Luke 18:11, John 4:9.)

3. We must acknowledge that the current unrest had its origin in the sin of our forefathers, North and South, who for their own selfish ends brought an unwilling people to these shores. Furthermore, we admit that we too bear a measure of blame, for we have been reluctant to face the spiritual implications of the gulf existing between the races.

4. Because we know our own hearts and because we believe God's Word, we can see no permanent solution arising out of man's efforts to right wrongs and conciliate grievances. Human attempts to bring the races together in Northern cities have only compounded the problem. There racial pride has been driven underground - by legislation, executive order and judicial decision - only to reappear in subtler forms and uglier guises. (Job 14:4, Matt. 12:43-45, John 15:5, II Cor. 3:5)

5. We submit that the only Scriptural hope for any lasting reconciliation between men is to be found, not in one race demanding justice from another race, but in individuals of both races humbling themselves as sinners and claiming the grace of God in Christ. In that act they will experience what Christ described as a Second Birth, with the changing of heart attitudes and the redirecting of personal motives. We do not claim that the new Birth will automatically resolve all tensions but that it alone opens up the possibility of a true solution. (John 3:3, II Cor. 5:17, Gal. 3:28, Col. 3:11)

6. In support of this claim we point to the decisive results of the Great Evangelical Awakening which came to England two centuries ago. When that nation was poised on the precipice of a bloody social revolution, hundreds of thousands in all classes experienced the New Birth. As a direct consequence the whole atmosphere of English life was improved and the needed reforms peacefully introduced. Nor was it a coincidence that the Emancipation of the slaves, first in the British Empire and then in the United States, owed its inspiration to William Wilberforce, a product of the Awakening.

7. It is our deep conviction that the living God is speaking to Greensboro through its present troubles. He it is Who, more that any racial group, is shaking the foundations and calling the citizens of this city to repentence and saving faith in His eternal Son. Increasingly the message of a Savior slain and risen has been “despised and rejected” by both Negroes and Whites in favor of manmade programs of social betterment. Now, with these failing, God would summon us back to the redeeming Cross around which men of both races can stand together on level ground. (Acts 20:21: I Cor. 1:23,24; Eph. 2:13, 14.)

A. L. Parker

Roy C. Putnam

Frederick W. Evans, Jr.

H. G. Mackay

James A. Raines

R. Harold Mangham

Russ A. Heyne

Edwin L. Smithwick.

The Beauty of the Historic Liturgy

 Watching mass on EWTN, even though I’m as Reformed as I was 20 years ago, and will never join Rome. I will also listen to contemporary worship music on my own sometimes for enjoyment and inspiration. There was even a time when I led that style of worship service. God honors and works through “less-than-professional” worship services and even often our bad choices. And it’s always important to pay attention to and learn from the various branches of the Christian Church, the ones that are truly orthodox. But there truly is nothing to compete with the classical worship style of the church and classical hymnody. There is a beauty and reverence unsurpassed in them, and we reject them to our detriment.

Nazi Fears

 I have known plenty of people who weren’t interested at all in their own race. One Asian acquaintance said to me once, in reference to Asian people in general, “we all look the same.” I kid you not. The old saying is “opposites attract”, and not without reason.

I suppose if you live in an area with a single racial majority it’s easy to become deluded on this. Where I live, mixed race families aren’t as uncommon as they used to be.

We just went through this period in the 2000’s and 2010’s where a whole bunch of “Young Calvinists” were obsessed with Lecrae and other Christian hip hop artists. Not exactly “white culture”. Have we forgotten?

The “Christian Nationalists” who keep pushing this idea that people are most naturally drawn to their own race are lost in their own fantasies and fears. People are far more varied than they would like for them to be.

The God of Regeneration

 When it comes to the new birth - being born again, regeneration - there is no verse in Scripture commanding us to be born again, as if it were an action we do. With regard to the need to be born again, or the state of having been born again, the statements are all of fact - “you must be born again”. Instead, the commands in the contexts dealing with the new birth are “believe”, “repent”, and “be baptized”.

Our Little Amen Corner

 You can often tell the more sectarian among professing believers by whether or not they unfriend or unfollow you on social media, or separate from you in real life. Usually they think their group or little corner of the Church has the lock on truth. They usually haven’t learned anything about Church history after the apostles (at least until Billy Graham). And they don’t have a substantial understanding of theology, or of how common differences are and have been among true churches and believers.

Again, I speak of the Plymouth Brethren - but not all of them, and not only them. Given the ways of some, apparently the Rapture will be a very light event indeed, no doubt explaining how easily so many will be veiled from it.

Running Down the Aisle of Eisegesis

 Individual Christians are not spoken of in Scripture as the Bride of Christ. I’m not the Bride of Christ, and neither are you. Not even individual Christian women who might want to think of themselves as the Bride of Christ are the Bride of Christ. Only the Church as a body, as the collection of believers, is called the Bride of Christ.

We can’t just take Biblical imagery, teaching, or terminology and use it however we may want to. We are bound by Scripture, and ignoring how it speaks simply leads to error - or sometimes it reveals problems in us that already exist.

Tossed To and Fro

 Modern Western man is bored and restless in his abundance, and distracted from the Giver of All Good Things. And nothing illustrates this more than the frequent theological shifting of so many.

It’s one thing to make one or two major theological changes during your lifetime. It’s another thing entirely to make several large jumps from one denomination to another, with equally great zeal each time. At some point you simply prove yourself more a child of the times than a child of God, a man unstable in all his ways.

Interracial Marriage and the Gospel According to Scripture

 At its core, the disallowance of interracial marriage is a denial of the Gospel. We can get focused on all sorts of important things regarding what the Gospel is, along with many ideas that we may confusedly think are in Scripture. But the more I have studied Scripture, the more I have come to understand that for our Lord Himself, and for all His representatives and those who penned the Bible under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the tearing down of racial divisions was and is central to the Gospel.

“What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”

“He comes to make His blessings known far as the curse is found.”

Numbers 12

Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. So they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)

Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tabernacle of meeting!” So the three came out. Then the Lord came down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both went forward. Then He said,

“Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant Moses?”

So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and He departed. And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper. So Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned. Please do not let her be as one dead, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb!”

So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “Please heal her, O God, I pray!”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and afterward she may be received again.” So Miriam was shut out of the camp seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again. And afterward the people moved from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.

Acts 10

About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”

Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”

The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

[Read the rest of the chapter. The vision wasn’t just about food.]

Ephesians 2

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.