Written by R.C. Sproul |
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
The fact that we are fallen does not mean that we no longer have the ability to think. We are all prone to error, but we also can learn to reason in an orderly, logical, and cogent fashion. It is my desire to see Christians think with the utmost cogency and clarity. So, as a matter of discipline, it is much to our benefit to study and master the elementary principles of reasoning so that we can, by the help of God the Holy Spirit, overcome to a certain degree the ravages of sin upon our thinking.

Several years ago, I was asked to give a convocation address at a major theological seminary in America. In that address, I spoke about the critical role of logic in biblical interpretation, and I pleaded for seminaries to include courses on logic in their required curricula. In almost any seminary’s course of study, students are required to learn something of the original biblical languages, Hebrew and Greek. They are taught to look at the historical background of the text, and they learn basic principles of interpretation. These are all important and valuable skills for being good stewards of the Word of God. However, the main reason why errors in biblical interpretation occur is not because the reader lacks a knowledge of Hebrew or of the situation in which the biblical book was written. The number one cause for misunderstanding the Scriptures is making illegitimate inferences from the text. It is my firm belief that these faulty inferences would be less likely if biblical interpreters were more skilled in basic principles of logic.
Let me give an example of the kind of faulty inferences I have in mind. I doubt I have ever had a discussion on the question of God’s sovereign election without someone quoting John 3:16 and saying, “But doesn’t the Bible say that ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life’“? I immediately agree that the Bible says that. If we were to translate that truth into logical propositions, we would say that all who believe will have eternal life, and no one who has eternal life will perish, because perishing and eternal life are polar opposites in terms of the consequences of belief. However, this text says absolutely nothing about human ability to believe in Jesus Christ. It tells us nothing about who will believe. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). Here we have a universal negative that describes ability.
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The three presbyteries will be regional in nature: Southwest Presbytery will encompass Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, and Missouri. Northern Presbytery will encompass all the congregations north of Tennessee and North Carolina (with the exception of Pathway Presbyterian Church (mission) in Clarksville, TN). The Southeast Presbytery will cover all the states east of the Mississippi River and south of the northern borders of Tennessee and North Carolina. All three presbyteries will have their formal organizational meetings to elect a Moderator and Clerk. They will also decide on a name for their body.

Vanguard Presbytery began on February 6, 2020 with the reception of two ministers, TE Dewey Roberts and TE Michael Frazier. The congregation of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Destin, FL soon voted to follow their pastor, TE Roberts, into Vanguard Presbytery. Other congregations and pastors followed. Vanguard held its formal Convocation in Nashville, TN in July of 2020. Vanguard Presbytery now has 17 particular churches, 10 mission churches, 2 mission works, and one pastor serving in a church that is expected to follow him into Vanguard. Additionally, the denomination is regularly discussing its distinctives with pastors and churches who are inquiring about Vanguard.
At its 14th stated meeting on October 18, 2024, Vanguard Presbytery met at Chapel Woods Presbyterian Church in Snellville, GA. The Presbytery voted unanimously to organize the denomination into three presbyteries and call for a General Assembly to be held some time before the end of August 2025. The three presbyteries will be regional in nature: Southwest Presbytery will encompass Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, and Missouri. Northern Presbytery will encompass all the congregations north of Tennessee and North Carolina (with the exception of Pathway Presbyterian Church (mission) in Clarksville, TN). The Southeast Presbytery will cover all the states east of the Mississippi River and south of the northern borders of Tennessee and North Carolina. All three presbyteries will have their formal organizational meetings to elect a Moderator and Clerk. They will also decide on a name for their body.
The retiring Moderator of Vanguard Presbytery, RE Mark Grasso, was authorized to appoint the convening Moderator and Stated Clerk for the General Assembly. He appointed TE Dewey Roberts to serve as the convening Moderator and TE Joshua Light to serve as the convening Stated Clerk. Both men will be eligible to be nominated for election by the General Assembly. Moderator Grasso also appointed the convening Moderators and Stated Clerks for each of the presbyteries, which will meet soon to establish themselves as separate presbyteries.
This move to divide into three presbyteries and call for a General Assembly was the appropriate time for Vanguard. First, it was becoming increasingly difficult to do the work of both a national presbytery and a denomination. There are some important distinctives of Vanguard Presbyterian Church which contributed to that decision. Vanguard does not have provisions for standing committees at the General Assembly level. We believe that church history shows that such committees can eventually become unaccountable to their denominations and function as administrative hierarchies within their respective spheres of responsibility. Hierarchy is contrary to the Scriptural principles of church polity.
Second, Vanguard believes that the Scripture establishes that the missionary work of the church is to be carried out by congregations and presbyteries—not the General Assembly. It was the Church at Antioch that sent out Paul and Barnabas as missionaries (Acts 13:1-3). Presbyteries have the authority to ordain and conduct oversight of ministers and their work (1 Timothy 4:14 and 2 Timothy 1:6), which includes the responsibility to oversee their work as evangelists and missionaries. The responsibility of the General Assembly is more legislative and judicial in nature (cf. Acts 15:1-35), especially in deciding such issues that affect the spread of the gospel. Thus, the General Assembly of Vanguard Presbyterian Church will be interested in receiving reports from each presbytery concerning how they are carrying out the Great Commission and how they are encouraging and helping every member congregation to do the same.
There are other unique principles that Vanguard has adopted, particularly in light of the heterodox positions taken by many modern reformed denominations. Vanguard holds that the creation account in Genesis took place in a literal six-day period. We believe this is supported by the Westminster Confession and Catechisms that God created “all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.” We believe those days were all the length of our days—twenty-four hours—since the Scripture says concerning them all that “there was evening and there was morning, one day.”
Vanguard also holds to the office of evangelist as a special gift given to some elders as was held by the New Side Presbyterians in the 18thcentury and the Old School Presbyterians in the 19th century. Indeed, the office of evangelist has great support in the history of the church, in Christian writings, and in the various books of polity of reformed denominations—even if most of those denominations today completely ignore the office of evangelist.
Vanguard also identifies with the theological positions of both the New Side Presbyterians and the Old School Presbyterians. These two movements are mirror images of one another. The New Side Presbyterians during the First Great Awakening emphasized support for that revival while also holding to orthodox theology. During the Second Great Awakening, the Old School Presbyterians opposed the “strange fire” and the heretical positions taken by some people who were actively promoting it, believing that God is the one who sends revival. The only real difference between the New Side Presbyterians and the Old School Presbyterians is the particular circumstances they faced and the times in which they lived. At heart, they agreed on all matters. Also, Vanguard requires full subscription to the Westminster Standards which is a great aid in promoting the unity of the denomination.
One special difference between Vanguard and other denominations is the amount of time spent in worship and prayer at every meeting. Preaching and prayer in Vanguard are not perfunctory, but lively and worshipful. At the most recent stated meeting, presbytery heard two excellent sermons and spent 90 minutes in prayer before conducting our business. The prayer time was an especially meaningful time with heartfelt prayers being offered for matters that are not usually a part of public prayers. Vanguard believes that if presbytery is to be the church of the ministers, then it needs to focus on the two things that the apostles determined should be the main focus of their energies—prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4).
While Vanguard began with some churches from the PCA, several of them have come from other denominations and some from mission churches planted by Vanguard. We have some churches in cities where no other reformed churches exist, such as Clovis and Roswell, New Mexico. There are some exciting things that have happened in some of the churches. For instance, the Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Live Oak, Texas under the pastoral leadership of TE Dick Jones was organized as a particular church in March of 2021. They recently bought and paid for three acres of land in a choice area for $550,000. The church still has assets in addition to the property of over $600,000. They are planning on erecting the first phase of their building program.
TE Ryan Denton, ordained as an evangelist by Vanguard, has taken the admonition of Paul to Timothy very seriously: “do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5). Under his faithful evangelistic efforts, there are several churches that have been raised up. He preaches most Sundays to the Lubbock Reformed Church in the morning and the Grace Covenant Reformed Church (mission) in Clovis, New Mexico in the afternoon. Clovis is 100 miles from Lubbock. Thankfully, Ryan has mentored a young man, TE Erick Welsh, who passed his ordination exam at our recent presbytery meeting. There are other works that have been started through Ryan’s efforts or through his faithful follow-up to opportunities brought into his path. This is what Ryan said about why he is in Vanguard today: “I joined Vanguard because of their culture of prayer, national revival, church planting, and evangelism, along with its commitment to the WCF and historic Presbyterianism. As Vanguard continues to grow, these principles continue to be reinforced and unleashed.”
TE Mic Knox is the founding pastor of Gospel Reformed Church (Mission) in Marietta, Georgia. Before coming into Vanguard, his leadership team looked into several denominations and talked with a representative of Vanguard congregations. They chose Vanguard because, “This is the best denomination for us. There really is nowhere else that would be right.” TE Knox preached at the recent presbytery from 3 John 2. He transferred into Vanguard a year ago and his congregation came into the denomination earlier this year. He gave the reasons for his congregation being in Vanguard: “Our Trinitarian, Covenant Lord—who has saved us by grace—providentially guided Gospel Reformed Church to Vanguard because the Holy Spirit has engendered an encouraging, evangelistic ecosystem where the gospel of Jesus is faithfully preached inside the church as well as in the community—which is the Biblically balanced mandate from Scripture. Vanguard’s regenerate and humble Teaching and ruling Elders galvanize one another in local, national, and foreign evangelism; while Vanguard is filled with godly men who love, glorify, and enjoy the Lord, each other, His Bride, and their local communities with deep compassion for the lost.”
The newest minister transferring into Vanguard is TE Sterling Brown who is starting a new church in Richmond, Ohio—Geneva Reformed Church (Mission)—which was ‘birthed from a body of believers fleeing the growing corruption in many of the well-known corporate Presbyterian denominations.” When he and his congregation were looking for a denomination faithful to the Scriptures and the WCF, he chose Vanguard for the following reasons: “We were thankful to join Vanguard Presbyterian Church because of their strong stance on the Word of God, their commitment to the Reformed faith (Westminster Confession of Faith, Larger and Shorter Catechisms) and the devotion to God in their understanding that the local church for whom Christ shed His blood is more important than corporate Presbytery.”
Vanguard members rejoice in the number of young ministerial candidates and licentiates as well as the number of students in the Vanguard School of Ministry. TE Al Baker, one of the founders of Vanguard, observed: “Vanguard is the very best denomination in our country and I would not want to be in any other one.” His sentiment is universally shared by others in the denomination.
For more information or to make a donation: Vanguard Presbyterian Church; or contact Dewey Roberts or Joshua Light

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Just as God first made the world through Christ, so too is the new creation worked through Christ. Jesus appeared as our high priest, offering Himself as the sacrifice to atone for our sins. But He did so through the eternal Spirit and to God. This, of course, is also how the Scriptures also describe this redemption being applied to us: the Father ordains, the Son accomplishes, and the Spirit applies. 

Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Hebrews 9:1-14 ESV

While Leviticus has a duly earned reputation for being the destroyer of Bible reading plans, it is, nevertheless, crucial for properly understanding the Pentateuch, the Old Testament, and even the New. I agree with John Sailhamer that the Pentateuch, that is, the first five books of the Bible written by Moses, ought to be thought of as one book in five volumes rather than five separate books. When viewed this way, we see the Holy Spirit’s clear design in the structure and symmetry within.
Genesis 1-11, which covers creation, the fall, the flood, and Babel, is a prologue to both the Pentateuch and the entire Bible. Genesis 12-50 recount the foundational promises that God made to Israel’s ancestors while they sojourned within the Promised Land. Of roughly the same length in word-count, Deuteronomy closes the Torah with Moses preparing Israel to finally enter the Promised Land and see God’s promises to the patriarchs fulfilled. Exodus and Numbers are also roughly the same size books and are mirrors of one another. As we have been seeing in Exodus, three major locations structure that book: Egypt, the wilderness, and Sinai. Numbers has a reverse series of locations: Sinai, the wilderness, and the border of Canaan.
At the center is Leviticus, which is filled with laws and rituals for how Israel will be able to worship Yahweh within the newly constructed tabernacle, particularly through the Levites as their priests. Indeed, the purpose of Leviticus is found in the final chapter of Exodus and the opening chapter of Numbers. In Exodus 40:34-35, we are told that whenever God’s glory filled the tabernacle Moses was not able to enter in. But in Numbers 1:1, we find God speaking to Moses within the tabernacle (or, tent of meeting as it is often called). The whole book of Leviticus is answering the question of how God’s sinful people could enter into His holy and sinless presence. The answer ended up being through lots of death and lots of blood. All of Leviticus is filled with instructions about the various sacrifices and offerings that the priests where to make on people’s behalf for any number of scenarios and sins.
Yet at the center of this central book is found the instructions for the Day of Atonement, the one day each year when the high priest alone was permitted to enter into the Most Holy Place, the inner chamber of the tabernacle, to make a sacrifice for the sins of the people.
I bring all of this up for two main reasons. First, the tabernacle and the priestly functions within is a major point of today’s text. Second, just as Leviticus and the Day of Atonement stood at the center of God’s law, so too does 9:1-10:18 stand at the center of Hebrews. Chapter divisions can make this matter a bit confusing since with thirteen chapters we would expect the middle of chapter 6 to be the center of Hebrews. Yet in terms of word-count, we are now at the center, which is fitting since the author is now going to describe for us the true, better, and final Day of Atonement.
As Long as the First Section is Still Standing // Verses 1-10
After describing the glories of the new covenant that Christ has inaugurated (primarily by citing Jeremiah 31:31-34), the author now takes us back to the old or first covenant that God made with Israel at Sinai: Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. This verse introduces us to what the author will present in verses 2-7, which is a very broad overview of those Old Testament regulations. These can then be divided into two parts: verses 2-5 recount the two-fold structure of the tabernacle, while verses 6-7 describe the priestly duties associated with each section.
For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
Here the author gives us a brief sketch of how the tabernacle was laid out. As he notes, there were two main sections: the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place (also called the Holy of Holies). It is worth noting that the golden altar of incense was actually within the Holy Place right before the entrance to the Most Holy Place, yet the author clearly associates it with the Most Holy Place for good reason. Indeed, in Leviticus 16:12-13, we find this association:
And [the high priest] shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil, and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die.
I think we are meant to hear notes of Exodus 34, where Moses was not permitted to see God’s face lest he die. In the same way, even the high priest’s once-a-year entrance into the Most Holy Place had to be conducted under the cover of a cloud of incense to shroud him from Yahweh’s beautiful but deadly glory. Let us also remember that this was God’s glory radiating through a copy and shadow of the heavenly reality.

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