Superiors, Inferiors, and Equals
Regardless of which category we fall into the first issue at hand is what do we do with the place the Lord has granted to us in His purpose. If we are a Superior are we encouraging biblical fidelity among those in our purview? If not we are sinning against them. John Flavel in his commentary explicitly warns ministers of the gospel that they are to be feeding their sheep with the wholesome food of Christ, to be “full of bowels of tender affection to them”, and to walk with them in holiness and truth. Those principles can be expanded both to parents and to even the civil magistrate.
We’re going to go directly to the Q/A’s this week as we continue to look at the first statute of the second table of the law. While it may seem arbitrary to divide the first four from the last six it is a Biblical idea. (Deut. 4:13). To think more clearly about what this is meant to teach us the Puritan Thomas Watson shows us how to approach these rules with a spiritual mindset:
The first table respects God and is the top of the ladder that reaches to heaven; the second respects superiors and inferiors, and is the foot of the ladder that rests on the earth. By the first table, we walk religiously towards God; by the second, we walk religiously towards man. He cannot be good in the first table that is bad in the second.
We are not to act as if one portion of the law is more important than another. Each part is meant to build upon the one before and assist the following of all of the commandments. We are called by Christ to love all of His commandments.
As with the First, Second, and Third commandments the Fifth is divided into four parts. This morning we are on the “back half” describing what is not allowed and what may need some more explanation. Here are the catechism questions:
Q. 65. What is forbidden in the fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment forbids the neglecting of, or doing anything against, the honors and duty which belongs to every one in their several places and relations.
Q. 66. What is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment?
A. The reason annexed to the fifth commandment, is a promise of long life and prosperity (as far as it shall serve for God’s glory and their own good) to all such as keep this commandment.
James Fisher was one of our forefathers in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. A blessing that he has bequeathed to us is a very helpful commentary on the Shorter Catechism. In his exposition of the fifth commandment there is a series of Q/A’s that I want to bring forward to help us better understand what we are talking about when it comes to Superiors, Inferiors, and Equals. As noted last week we live in an egalitarian age. People are wired by society to scoff at any idea of a stratified society, for some good reasons to be sure. The way class-consciousness has been used in the past by secular forces has led to chattel slavery, hard castes, and other sinful activities.
-
The Closest Exit May Be Behind You
Written by Samuel D. James |
Saturday, December 11, 2021
The place we need to look is not toward the most visible and intuitive exits, but the ones behind us. Behind us are the sirens of history, in which we learn that unprecedented times are not really unprecedented, and that the church was born with everything she seeks from political or cultural magnificence. The exit behind us is the exit of temporal bandwidth, the ability to imagine ourselves and our worship not in the pressure cooker of contemporary dramas but in the sober sanctuary of God’s century-over-century promises to preserve us.When sensing an emergency, human nature tends to look for somewhere to run. This is true physically as well as spiritually. Every commercial airliner reminds passengers before takeoff of where the exits on the plane are: “Keep in mind the closest exit may be behind you.” Of course the exit doors are visible enough. Why the reminder? I think part of the answer is that when we’re trying to escape, we tend to only look ahead. It takes a kind of self-control to stop pressing forward toward the biggest exit to look for a different one that may be not in our immediate vision.
A crisis is an epistemological event. When something goes terribly wrong, when we feel threatened or know something must change to avoid catastrophe, how we process information and make decisions changes. In many cases, our singular focus becomes how to relieve the pressure and defuse the danger. And that kind of tunnel vision can take us places that won’t actually help us.
Much of what I see that troubles me in Christian rhetoric and culture is, I think, the straightforward epistemological consequences of a church that feels itself in crisis. Many of us can’t even explain how the world could have changed so much so fast. A transformed public conscience has led to unfathomable revolutions in law, which have in turn reeducated the public conscience. In the 1990s the main concern for many evangelicals was how to preserve purity in a vulgar media age. Now the concern is how to preserve a right to say what people find vulgar in a legalistically progressive media age. To pickup on an infamous metaphor that one conservative pundit used of the 2016 election: many Christians feel like the oxygen masks have deployed and the plane is falling apart.
The sense of crisis conditions how we respond to the world and to each other. If you think your survival depends on how quickly you can get off the plane, you will look for the exit, but not in the way you would look for an exit after a smooth landing.
Read More -
6 Spiritually Profitable Things You Can Do While Holding A Baby
By meditating on His word, I can, with the Holy Spirit’s help, turn a simple everyday task of holding a baby into a sanctifying time of spiritual strengthening. You might not have time to do a full inductive Bible study every hour of your day. But I am certain if you committed yourself to meditating on Scripture, you could find time throughout your schedule to think over a precious truth or promise or command from God.
Lately, I have spent a large portion of my days and nights holding a baby. The question I have asked myself during these extended periods of holding him is “how can I redeem this time for spiritual good? Is there anything spiritually profitable I can do while holding my baby?”
The past couple weeks, I have found 6 different answers to these questions. While certainly non-exhaustive, these 6 things have helped me focus my mind on the Lord as I have been walking, standing, or sitting with a baby in my arms. What is the goal of all this? Redeeming the time in accordance to what God says:
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16, ESV emphasis added
Even if you don’t find yourself holding a baby, no doubt you have free moments throughout the day. These free moments may be short, but they are opportunities to invest in your soul and in your relationship with the Lord. Here are some ways to spend those moments.
1. Pray
Before having a baby, I often asked the Lord to give me more time to pray throughout the day. He certainly answered that request by giving me a son. The first couple sleepless nights in the hospital I sat holding my son in the dark and the silence-alone except for me, my son, and the Lord. I will never forget the sweet times of prayer in the hospital holding a baby I cared so much about and who I wanted to know Christ one day.
This taught me an important lesson:You don’t have to wait around for an opportunity to pray. You can do it now.
Communion with the Lord is made possible through Christ and that communion is possible at any moment. The key is to take the times of silence God gives you to turn our attention back to Him. Holding a baby is one of those opportunities, but so is a host of other life circumstances. Next time you find yourself having a free moment, keep your phone off. Don’t turn on music or flip on the television. Dedicate those fleeting calm moments to pray to the God who made you, knows you, and loves you.
2. Read
If I am holding my son and he is asleep, I most likely have one hand free. That means I can hold a Christian book or, better yet, the Bible. I normally can get through a chapter or two of Scripture or a couple sections of a book before my son wakes up. I personally don’t care for audio books or e-readers, but I imagine both of these are even more accessible while holding a baby.
A consistent diet of Biblical truth is what you and I need to grow. Like the Psalmist in Psalm 119, you should be longing for God’s word. This longing will manifest itself in picking up the Bible or a book on the Bible any chance you get.
Read More -
Why is America so Sad? And Where do We Find Joy?
Written by David J. Ayers |
Thursday, December 30, 2021
In measured loneliness and happiness, married adults fare much better than everyone else. Those who attend religious services regularly do better and changed less. In fact, 29% described themselves as “very happy” in 2021, compared to only 20% of those who go to church only one to three times per month, and 15% of folk who never do so. The visible differences between children in healthy families, and adults in good marriages, has also never been more obvious. We are not meant to go through life solo, especially during hard times. We need each other, not hard drugs nor escape by other means.A study by the Harvard Graduate School of Education—based on an October 2020 poll released in February 2021—deserved widespread media coverage. It got almost none. Given what was going on this past February, that is not surprising. But it is regrettable nonetheless.
The study found that we were in the midst of a growing “epidemic of loneliness” that, already bad, has been made much worse by the pandemic. And that was before this thing dragged on and on even after effective vaccines became universally available to Americans. The report notes that the pandemic had “exposed wide holes in our social fabric” that reminded us just how much we depend on “the warmth and care of others.” Which of course we have much less of, thanks to the pandemic. But the relational gaps, including divisions and even hostility tearing at our primary bonds, were already in place.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, we got the bitter news about overdose deaths a few weeks ago. As of April 2021, we hit 100,300 such deaths, up 29% from last year. Opioid overdoses alone were up 35%, killing 207 Americans every day.
We can add to this the insights we gained from the latest General Social Survey (GSS) conducted December 2020 to May 2021. Comparing measured overall happiness levels with the 2018 edition of the GSS is startling. It is clear that the problems Harvard uncovered did not improve, given that lonely people tend to be, well, less happy. Nor, given what the GSS tells us, should all these overdose deaths surprise us.
To describe the drop in happiness between 2018 and 2021 as “steep” is an understatement. The percentages reporting they were “very happy” dropped by about a third, from 30% to 20%. Meanwhile, “not too happy” increased by almost 40%, from 14% to 23%. That’s almost a quarter of the adult population saying they’re unhappy.
Read More
