7/2/14 Knox and government

We confess and acknowledge that empires, kingdoms, dominions, and cities are appointed and ordained by God; the powers and authorities in them, emperors in empires, kings in their realms, dukes and princes in their dominions, and magistrates in cities, are ordained by God's holy ordinance for the manifestation of his own glory and for the good and well being of all men. We hold that any men who conspire to rebel or to overturn the civil powers, as duly established, are not merely enemies to humanity but rebels against God's will. (Scots Confession 24)

1Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended (Romans 13)

Thoughts: For those who think the church's main mission is social justice, the Scots Confession and this passage in Romans 13 urges a second thought.  The spiritual nature of the church is brought out.  This may seem ironic to those who think of Knox as the one who helped depose Mary Guise or was in constant conflict with Mary Queen of Scots, and physically fought against Cardinal Beaton. It appears Knox changed his mind about how to work with and against authorities.  I believe Knox's statement in the confession goes along with the way Jesus reacted to Rome and Caesar.  

Prayer: Lord, help me to render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to you what is yours.  

7/1/14- Who May Partake in the Sacrament

We hold that baptism applies as much to the children of the faithful as to those who are of age and discretion, and so we condemn the error of the Anabaptists, who deny that children should be baptized before they have faith and understanding. But we hold that the Supper of the Lord is only for those who are of the household of faith and can try and examine themselves both in their faith and their duty to their neighbors. Those who eat and drink at that holy table without faith, or without peace and goodwill to their brethren, eat unworthily. This is the reason why ministers in our Kirk make public and individual examination of those who are to be admitted to the table of the Lord Jesus. (Scots Confession 23)

27So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 

The promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off to all whom the Lord your God will call.  (Acts 2:39)

Let the little children come to me and forbid them not. (Lk. 18:16)  For whoever welcomes a little child welcomes me...(Matthew 18:5)

Thoughts: Children are welcome.  In the Old Testament this was shown in circumcision- that they were a part of the household of faith- and that God;'s grace rested on children even before they could respond.  In the New Testament Jesus reminded his disciples who would only welcome adults that children should be welcomed to him as well.  Baptism is for men and women, and it is for children of the faithful as well as adults.  Baptism is the great equalizer between the poor and the rich, slave and free.  It is the great equalizer in age as well- for the grace of God that claims us is not simply up to us- but it is a calling of God.  
    Communion is a sustaining of those who have been initiated in baptism.  It is not for those who do not believe or are not able to understand/discern the Lord's body and blood (1 Cor. 11:29).
Baptism is an initiation, communion is a sustaining rite.  

Prayer: Lord, thank you that your grace calls us and sustains us.  Thank you that when we did not understand fully, you understood and poured your grace on us.  

The Spirit and Good Works

The cause of good works, we confess, is not our free will, but the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, who dwells in our hearts by true faith, brings forth such works as God has prepared for us to walk in. For we most boldly affirm that it is blasphemy to say that Christ abides in the hearts of those in whom is no spirit of sanctification. Therefore we do not hesitate to affirm that murderers, oppressors, cruel persecutors, adulterers, filthy persons, idolaters, drunkards, thieves, and all workers of iniquity, have neither true faith nor anything of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, so long as they obstinately continue in wickedness. For as soon as the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, whom God's chosen children receive by true faith, takes possession of the heart of any man, so soon does he regenerate and renew him, so that he begins to hate what before he loved, and to love what he hated before. (Scott's Confession 12a)

Thoughts: The cause of Good Works is not our inward fortitude or determination.  We commend ourselves too much if we think that we do good all on our own.  The Holy Spirit inspires us to do good.  The Spirit awakens and energizes us to do good.  Knox also points out that when we persist in wickedness it is a sign that the Spirit (and therefore true belief) is absent.  To continue unrepentant in wickedness is a sign of disregard for God and righteousness and the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit helps us to love the way of God, and to hate the behavior and evil that God hates.

Prayer: Lord, help me to love what you love.  Help me to be full of your Holy Spirit that I may choose the good- the way of holiness over the way of selfishness.

5/22/14- The Sufficient Sacrifice of Christ

But yet we avow that he remained the only, well beloved, and blessed Son of his Father even in the midst of his anguish and torment which he suffered in body and soul to make full atonement for the sins of his people. From this we confess and avow that there remains no other sacrifice for sin; if any affirm so, we do not hesitate to say that they are blasphemers against Christ's death and the everlasting atonement thereby purchased for us. (Scots 7b)

23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:23,24)

Thoughts: The uniqueness of Christ leads to the uniqueness of His ability to sacrifice for us.  Jesus is the one and only Son and as such has the one and only tie to the Father so that His love overcomes our sin.  Knox is careful to guard against the idea that another saint can sacrifice or pay for our sins.  He is careful to evade the idea that Good Works (or indulgences) can some how pay for our sins.  To bring another payment to the Father would imply that His Son's death is somehow not precious enough.  His sacrifice is sufficient and therefore precious and sweet to us. 

Prayer:  Lord, your sacrifice is special to the Father, but it is also special to me.  Keep me from trying to add to it and thereby taking away from it.  

(Ghent altarpiece- in the movie "The Monuments Men" this piece was said to be the centerpiece of catholic culture.)

5/9/14- Rebirth

This rebirth is wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost creating in the hearts of God's chosen ones an assured faith in the promise of God revealed to us in his Word; by this faith we grasp Christ Jesus with the graces and blessings promised in him.  (Scots IIIb)

3Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.^a ” 4“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^b gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^cmust be born again.’  8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”^d 9“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? (John 3:3-9)

Thoughts: The Gospel does not leave us in our sin, hopelessness, skepticism and guilt.  Instead, Jesus speaks of a total transformation that happens when we are born again.  Knox speaks of such a regeneration in the Scots Confession.  Those in religious ferment- like the Pharisees of Jesus' day, the pre-reformation church of Knox's day, and the oldline Protestants in the West, do not emphasize the need for transformation.  Instead there is a steady stream of emphasis on some kind of rule.  In our day, it is the rule of tolerance.  For some the radical, transforming belief in Jesus is not nearly as important as it should be.  In fact, many in such ferment refuse to believe in the power of God to change people.  Jesus is amazed that a religious leader does not know that faith in God involves change- and even a stand against the culture around us.  Paul said it like this: "If anyone is in Christ they are a new creation- the old has past, the new has come" (2 Cor. 5:17).  I have heard people say, "They will never change"; "Only jail can change them"; "Do not expect them to act differently."  The good news, is that Christ is risen from the dead- and this same power that raises the dead raises us up from our sin to be a changed and better person.  Accept Christ in your life.  Believe in Jesus and let Him change you. 

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for trusting more in the skeptical way things are than in your ability to change me and those around me for the better.  

5/5/14- Jesus the sustainer

Scots Confession Ic: "One in substance and yet distinct in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.  By whom we confess and believe all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, to have been created, to be retained in their being, and to be ruled and guided by his inscrutable providence for such end as his eternal wisdom, goodness, and justice have appointed and to the manifestation of his own glory."

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.  (Hebrews 1:3)

Thoughts: God the Son is the radiance of God's glory.  As the sun is experienced through the glove of the sun, the heat of the sun, and the light of the sun. The Son comes from the Father- is the same substance of the Father, yet different from the Father as the rays of the sun are different from the sun itself yet part of it.
    God not only creates.  He sustains.  It is in the sustaining of creation- that we see God's providential, ongoing care and love.  The goal of out being sustained is not for our own comfort, or for the extension of a short life- but for God's glory.  In the end, we do not live our lives for ourselves or our comfort, but for God's glory.  

Prayer:  Sustain me, Lord, that I may glorify you.  

The Scots Confession was primarily written by John Knox of Scotland.

5/3/14- Scots Confession #1 a God Aloine

2014 is the 500th anniversary of John Knox of Scotland's birth.  Knox changed the landscape of Scotland, helped preserve Protestantism in England, and had a tremendous effect on presbyterianism.
He wrote (as primary author among six) the Scot's Confession that is found in the Book of Confessions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), The Church of Scotland, and the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (ECO).  The devotions this summer focus on Knox's writings in a devotional way.

Chapter 1- God-
"We confess and acknowledge one God alone, to whom alone we must cleave, whom alone we must serve, whom only we must worship, and in whom alone we put our trust."

Exodus 20

2“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3“You shall have no other gods before^a me.

4“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,6but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

The first two of the Ten Commandments also speak words- that Knox echoes here.  Some would say these commandments do not encourage monotheism only monolatry (the worship of one God by these particular people).  But in practical reality, there is little difference.  While some may believe there are many gods and they only choose to worship one- this passage would say for now that is enough.  If we truly only worship God the reality of the solo God becomes clear to us.  There is one God who deserves our worship- our belief, our trust, our cleaving in times of joy or trouble.  To worship an idol, or a rabbits foot, or a tree, or the sun, or a made up philosophy would lead us away from our own good and from the reality of the universe.  

Prayer: Help me to trust in you only, O Lord.  Help me to give myself fully to you.