The Honor of His Name

Exekiel 36: 22-38

The Reformer's Fire
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Exposition by Max A Forsythe

Question 56:
What is the reason annexed to the third commandment
Answer 56:
The reason annexed to the third commandment is, that however the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment.

 

Here in this question and answer is one of the reasons that we divide the ten commandments into two tablets of four and six. These first four are the voluntary outpourings of obedience of those the Lord has loved. To fulfill the first four as best as we are able is to show forth to the world the fruits of the Spirit that is already in us. And as we have well noted in our comments on the church at the end of this 20th Century, so very many who presume to say "Lord, Lord" are very far indeed from the kingdom in their understanding, their teaching and their devotion! And while practically the whole church is dying from the maladministration of wolves in wool coats, we may rest assured that one day, the Lord, the God of heaven will judge the peoples according to the dictates of His own revealed Law!

It is for this reason that we should be careful in administering punishment for violations to the first four commandments. Certainly, within the fellowship we have an obligation to hold high the expectations of the first tablet. However, given the reality of our imperfections, we should be very careful in the administration of judgments. From the very beginning of this series on the Law of God, I have said repeatedly that the application of these spiritual commandments within the families of the Church are the voluntary decisions of each family.

The purpose and challenge of the preaching in this series is to hold forth the holy and righteous expectations of our God and King so that each individual may well understand the complete and utter impossibility of perfectly keeping the law of God. Only with such an understanding may any of us stand at the last judgment to realize the great mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Should we hold to any expectations of receiving a just reward, then we are men and women, boys and girls with no hope in heaven! Justice is not our earned demand from a righteous and holy God, but instead a plea for mercy is our only hope!

But how the worldly would spurn such revealed advice. Just pray the prayer for salvation, just live a life holy to the Lord. Just count on the blessings of a life lived in devotion or the learned "gifts of the Spirit" which are the signs expected in to many places.

Now, we well realize that there are many people who have the gift of salvation who do not understand it as we do. We do know that God is completely sovereign in matters of salvation. Even in fallen and wicked denominations, there are still a handful of the faithful who have the great gift even if they do not understand it. One of the saddest things about the dumbing down of education since World War Two is the fact that the great majority of people can barely comprehend the concepts and issues that have made Western Civilization great in comparison to every other culture. And the bedrock of that civilization was a thorough knowledge of the holy that was learned in the very schools whose purpose it once was - to make the Bible and its revelations understandable.

With the great ham stringing of the ordinary intellect, too many are left to make short shift with emotionalism. And while much of that emotionalism is undoubtedly sincere, it is not the kind of spiritual preparation that endures. Someone once observed that I was too rigid in my theology. After all they said that I had to learn to bend with the winds of the times. That was many years ago. The other person is no longer going to church since they have long since outgrown the perceived notion that anything important ever happens there! This is a general condition in our time and place. Some churches are indeed getting desperate to lure people in the door! Rev Eppler in Louisville recently sent along an newspaper advertisement for all night week end gambling at an evangelical congregation. From 4:00 in the afternoon until 4:00 in the morning the advertisement reads. Now there is a church that is in step with the times!

But I wonder what good it would do to chide them for their heathen use of the Lord's house. It is getting so that you are unable to accuse anyone of sin even privately! Laws have been passed in a few places that would limit conscientious pastors from speaking out against even the most outrageous and unspeakable aspects of the Sodomite community. It is well in times like these to see that similar epochs have occurred in the past.

To that end, let us return to our passage from Ezekiel. There in those short verses we understand that the people of Israel will be regathered yet once again and returned to the promised land. In a similar way, we may know that God will one day call us home to be with Him forever and ever as well. And perhaps even the worldly culture can also be reclaimed in a gracious outpouring of His Spirit. Even in the disastrous times of the Old Covenant Church we see the promise of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We see the sign of water baptism in verse twenty-five and the work of the Spirit in our lives in the verses immediately following.

Little do we appreciate how much of a hold the world has upon us until we see the Lord's plan to put a new heart within us through what we know and experience as the new birth. Then we see the work of the Spirit in our lives in verse twenty-seven where the Lord tells us that He "will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." Then in the next section we see the ebb and flow of church history in both Testaments. The world will know when the Church is true because the Lord will make His blessing evident. He will restore the barren church to faithfulness and fruitfulness in His own time and within His sovereign will.

Until then we are called to be faithful. And your faithfulness can be made evident in your honoring of God's lawful and righteous commandments. You can study them quietly in your own home with the helpful guidance of the Larger Catechism. Be certain to read the wisdom of the scriptural proofs for this is where the rubber meets the road. In the words of the Spirit given through men, we hear the very mind of the Lord on the various complexities of His sovereign rule. Know full well that it is a lifetime of grace and blessing that leads us to prepare ourselves for heaven. Try as we might, we learn the hard way that just as it is by the Lord's grace we are saved, so also are we improved to better reflect the greater glory of our Father in heaven.

And even as we admit our desperate need for the life saving and life sanctifying power of the Spirit, we are led into communion with our Lord Jesus Christ. And as we come to His table that is spread before us today, let us sanctify the meal with a heartfelt confession that except by His grace we could not have found our way into His fellowship. And may we give thanks at this solemn time of year for all the blessings that the Lord has given to us this year and always.

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Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America)
Westminster Shorter Catechism Series