Jared Longshore's Blog, page 18

No Room for Sin

That when sin spies so many foes,

Thy whips, thy nails, thy wounds, thy woes, 

All come to lodge there, sin may say, 

No room for me, and fly away.

George Herbert, Good Friday

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One Bread

While the church of God has not yet attained perfect unity, we should be laboring toward that unity. We must do this slowly and steadily, knowing that perfect unity will only come with the second coming of our Lord. This steady pursuit of unity requires that we flee idolatry. There are many idols but only one Lord. There are many idols and that is why idolatry fractures people into factions and divisions. And there is only one Lord, so those who partake of Him find that they are one with all of those who likewise partake of Him. Paul says this very thing in 1 Corinthians 10:17, “we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.”

So not only is there one bread from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. But there is also one bread, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said it, “we being many are one bread.” It is lamentable that at suppor of our Lord where we partake of the one bread, many Christian traditions still refuse to let members of the body partake of Christ’s body. God’s grace is upon our church, which says to all of those who are bread, who are baptized Christians, “Come and welcome to Jesus Christ.” And we should rejoice in that grace. 

But this sentiment must be more than a slogan. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. So as you come to this table, come loving all those who have God as Father, all those to whom He has said, “I am your God and you are my people. The only way to truly love that one bread is to come to the true bread who has come down from heaven. So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ.

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When God Swore and Oath

When God swore an oath of salvation to Abraham, he included Abraham’s children. In Genesis 17:7, He said to Abraham, “I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenat, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee.” Abraham had to believe all that God said to Him, which included that God would be God to his children. This same promise comes to us, the children of Abraham. He will deliver us and our children to a thousand generations. Baptism is a sign of this covenant promise.

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Hum a Little Ditty in a Firestorm

Chesterton once said, “The poet only asks to get his head into the heavens. It’s the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it’s his head that splits.” Now however offensive that is to the logicians present, he has a point. The man with loose shoulders, the one who can hum a little ditty in a firestorm, is the man who simply accepts the Word from heaven. He may not understand precisely how the heavenly word will be accomplished, but he doesn’t need to know. He considers the source. If heaven says that such and such will come to pass, then so it will be. 

But another man insists on fully comprehending his situation. He wants to know precisely what is going on with his health, or his future plans. He wants to know exactly how he is going to get out of the slough of despond, his financial snarl, or whatever soup he’s been plunged into. This man is only at peace—he’s only light and buoyant—when he has the matter in hand, which, of course, is the very point at which he should have no peace at all. 

As long as you insist on this latter comprehensive knowledge, you will not be a jolly warrior. The jovial soldier simply looks to the skies and says, “O LORD, bow thy heavens and come down: touch thy mountains and they shall smoke.” Then, he looks at his band of brothers and with a grin, says, “Incoming.”

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Viva la American Freedom

The American revolution of 1776 was entirely different in principle, character, and tendency from all the revolutions of the European continent since 1789; and it is of the greatest importance to keep this difference in view, if we would duly understand and appreciate [the United States] and its prevailing idea of freedom.

Philip Schaff in God and the Atlantic, by Thomas Howard

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Calvary Proves the Sacrament

Every week at this table you hear the truth that as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. In that phrase, we have a particular consummation of this supper. We eat and drink at this table for a time, up and to a point. That point will be the day of visibility. Having walked by faith and not by sight, we will then see Him as He is. We certainly are witnesses of Christ’s at this meal, but being witnesses to something is different than being the thing itself.

This table is a testimony to Christ but it is not an unveiling of Christ. We proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes and that proclamation must be received by faith. We trust in the Word made flesh and at the last supper of all last suppers, we will see the Word made flesh when He comes in like manner as He went into heaven.

Notice then the limitations of our witness. We can and do testify to the Lord’s death. But we can never be the ground or cause of Christ’s death. We can never prove Christ’s death by getting underneath it and supporting it as if we were the chief cornerstone. If you are looking for the final word on the matter, then you must go to the Word Himself. If you are looking for the solid bottom upon which you can stand then you must go to the Rock of Ages. In this sense, we are not proving His death at this table but His death is the proof of this table. Where did this table come from? Well, it came from the Lord of the table. So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ.

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Did God Really Say?

Baptism is a sign and seal of God’s covenant promise. Consider the love of God. Not only has He promised to save us. But He has sworn an oath. Not only has He sworn and oath, but He has given us a visible word to underscore His oath. The deceiver first led us astray with the question, “Did God really say?” And he attempts to run this same play on us regarding our salvation, “Did God really say you are His?” And in our baptism, God replies, “Oh yes, I have said. These are mine.”

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A Sit-Down in Escondido

At a very kind invitation from Pastor Chris Gordon, Doug Wilson and I flew down to California for a sit-down in Escondido. Any and all topics were up for debate and we covered several over the course of three hours including postmillennialism, Christian nationalism, and federal vision. Pastor Gordon has released a statement here regarding the debate. Pastor Wilson has also released a note on the meeting.

It was Pastor Gordon’s hope that we exhibited, in love and with a good example for others, how Christians should treat one another with whom we disagree. Not only do Doug and I have that same hope, but we think that Pastor Gordon demonstrated that very well throughout our time in Escondido. We had a delightful time, a good and rigorous discussion, and are very grateful.

Here’s a link to the debate:

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Man Does Not Live by Logic Alone

Chesterton once said that the madman is not the man who has lost his reason but the man who has lost everything but his reason. While a mind is a beautiful thing, it is not food. Jesus said that man does not live by bread alone and neither does he live by logic alone. He lives by the Word of God. We live in a world in which God has spoken. We are surrounded by nouns and verbs, they radiate from the prophets and they radiate from the roses and bumble bees. These words are from God and they are our meat and drink.

The ants tell you to work. The moon and the stars tell you to humble yourself. These divine heralds don’t require that you do high level logical deduction. But they do require you to obey. They do not require comprehensive knowledge on your part. But they do require faith. It has been well said that our method of operation is faith seeking understanding and you will spin your wheels into oblivion if you reverse this and make your method understanding seeking faith.

Jesus said that His teaching was not His own but the Father’s. And He added that “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine” (John 7:14-18).

You will find a man that says, “I think for myself.” And this is to be commended. God has spoken and most certainly given you a mind. But there is a world of difference between thinking for yourself and thinking from yourself. The man who would think from himself has rejected the bread from heaven in an attempt to bake his own bread. He attempts to be the true bread which has come down from heaven rather than simply eating that true bread. That is madness, indeed.

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Poor Earth, Poor Stars

Things, therefore, as things, are inseparable from God, as God. Separate the secular from the sacred, and the world becomes an idol shrouded in interpretations; creation becomes too meaningful to make love to . . . Poor earth, poor stars, poor flesh. Without a Giver, they never become themselves

Robert Capon, The Supper of the Lamb

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