There are many ways to faithfully resist. We resist when we put to death sin in our own lives (Col. 3:5). We resist when we speak against the open promotion and practice of evil and wickedness. We resist when we speak the gospel, love our enemies, and endure wrongs against us. And, we resist when we refuse to bow to the world’s powers and authorities on matters of faith and practice.

A few weeks ago the PCA’s Pittsburgh Presbytery found itself on the front lines of this resistance movement. We recently learned that one of our military chaplains is sometimes asked or commanded to compromise his faith and practice. He is sometimes commanded to participate in inter-faith worship services. He is sometimes directed specifically to not pray in Jesus’ name. He refuses to obey the civil authorities on these matters, and our presbytery stood behind him with the following resolution:

Resolved to adopt the following statement about public prayer offered by ministers of this Presbytery, whether serving as Pastors or Chaplains, or in some other capacity:

Whereas Almighty God alone is Lord of the conscience, and has left the conscience free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are contrary to, or in matters of faith and worship, in addition to his Word (WCF 19:2), and whereas civil government ought not, in the least, to interfere in matters of faith (WCF 23:30), and whereas the Constitution of the United States of America states that “congress shall make no law… prohibiting the free exercise” of religion, We, Pittsburgh Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America, affirm that every citizen, whether as private citizen or public servant, is free to pray as his conscience directs, and that no authority lawfully exists with any branch or agency of the Federal Government to limit or forbid such prayer.

And, further, whereas Jesus Christ alone is the mediator between God and men (WCF 8:1, 21:2), and that every minister of this Presbytery, by his own vow, has bound himself to pray only under the authority and mediation of Jesus, we affirm the duty of every minister to pray publicly in such a manner and with such wording as satisfies his conscience that he is praying under the sole mediation of Jesus Christ, and we deny that any governmental authority can of right constitutionally forbid prayer offered in the name of Jesus Christ, or restrain a minister or citizen from so praying for any reason whatsoever.

In issuing this statement we have said that we will not bow to the world’s powers and authorities on matters of faith and practice. It was an encouraging day to be a member of Christ’s church, the greatest resistance movement this world has ever known. Resistance is not futile.

Here are twenty reasons to study Leviticus (these were explored in a little more detail last Sunday night).

1. Leviticus is the word of God.
2. Leviticus provides some of the greatest moral instruction mankind has ever known.
3. Leviticus shows us the glory and the wonder of meeting God in worship.
4. Leviticus shows us that God cares how we worship – it shows us that God regulates our worship.
5. Leviticus shows us that God is holy.
6. Leviticus shows us that God is eternal and living.
7. Leviticus shows us that God is personal.
8. Leviticus shows us that God is powerful
9. Leviticus shows us that God is righteous
10. Leviticus shows us that God is sovereign.
11. Leviticus shows us that God is gracious and good.
12. Leviticus shows us that God is jealous.
13. Leviticus shows us what it means to be a holy nation.
14. Leviticus shows us that we are part of a community.
15. Leviticus gives meaning to the incarnation of Christ and our subsequent union with him.
16. Leviticus points us to heaven.
17. Leviticus calls us to witness to the world about the glory and graciousness of God.
18. Leviticus shows us the blessings of God’s gracious covenant.
19. Leviticus, by its various outward symbols of purification and holiness, shows us the need for inner purification and holiness.
20. Leviticus gives content and meaning to Jesus’ death on the cross.

I’ll be out of the pulpit in the evenings through February, so we’ll pick up our study in Leviticus in March. Until then go ahead and give Leviticus a good read – maybe give Hebrews a good read too – and let’s continue to devote ourselves to prayer, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the life-giving power of the Word of God.

When you go to prayer, account it to be a great work. Set a high price upon your prayer, not as having any excellency in it because it comes from you, but set a high price upon it as a great ordinance of God wherein there is communion with God to be enjoyed and the inflence of God to be conveyed through it. So set a high price on prayer every time you are going to prayer.

“Lord, I am now setting upon a work that is of very great consequence, and much lies upon it. And I would account it to be a sore and a great evil to me if I should lose even this prayer.” This would be a special means to compose your spirit and to keep you from wandering as Nehemiah did in Hehemiah 6:3. This is a place that I have sometimes quoted upon such an occasion, when the enemies of Nehemiah who would hinder the building of the temple sent to him that they might talk together. “No,” he said, “I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down.”

So when the devil and the vanity of your own heart would send you to parley and talk with you, give this answer: “I cannot stand parleying with these things. The work that I am about is a great work.” There are very few people who account the work of prayer a great work. If you did, it would greatly help you against the vanity of your thoughts.

From Jeremiah Burroughs, Gospel Worship, pp. 305-306.

Here are a couple of video’s about the ongoing work in Thailand:

MTW~Thailand from MTW~Thailand on Vimeo.

Napada Thailand from MTW~Thailand on Vimeo.

For my own part I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than the devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same experience may await many others. I believe that many who find that “nothing happens” when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand.

(HT: Justin Taylor)

Such people who have seen God’s glory and grace can never be the same again. They have come to know who God is, and in His presence they come to know what they are themselves in their need and by His grace. They lose their taste for all that is trivial. They learn to live as Daniel did, near to God. They are never far from heaven because they know they are no longer distanced from it by the guilt of sin. Forgiven and cleansed, they have a presence about them. It is the presence of God (Sinclair Ferguson, Mastering the Old Testament: Daniel, p. 212).

Below is a guide to help us better pray for our particular sins, particularly. And, of course, as our particular sins are brought before God we can be most confident of his particular grace for you and I.

Almighty, eternal, merciful God and Father, we poor sinners confess that we have sinned in many ways against You and Your commandments:

We confess that we have not believed in You, our one God and Father, but have put our faith and trust more in creatures than in You, our God and Creator;

We confess that we have erected idols in our hearts, and bowed down and served them;

We confess that we have misused Your Name, that we have sworn falsely or lightly by it, and have not professed it or kept it holy as we ought;

We confess that we have not kept the Sabbath holy, nor have we rejoiced in the work of six days but have grumbled against Your day and been negligent in our work;

We confess that we have not honored our parents, and have been disobedient to them and to all those to whom we owe honor and obedience.

We confess that we have not respected life, but have murdered in our hearts, venting our anger against our neighbors whom we are to love;

We confess that we have been unchaste; we acknowledge all our sins of the flesh and all the excess and extravagance of our whole lives in eating, drinking, clothing, and other things, and our intemperance in our thinking, seeing, hearing, and speaking;

We confess that we have stolen. We acknowledge our greed; We admit our love of the world and the things of the world; we have dishonestly gained and kept what we have, and greedily held what belongs to others;

We confess that we have borne false witness, that we have been untrue and unfaithful toward our neighbor, that we have shaded, twisted, and denied the truth;

We confess that we have coveted the possessions and spouses of others; we acknowledge in summary that our whole life is nothing else than sin and transgression of your holy commandments and an inclination toward all evil.

Therefore we beg you, O heavenly Father, that you would graciously forgive us these and all our sins. Keep and preserve us henceforth that we may walk only in Your ways and live according to Your will; through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, our Saviour. Amen.

(from Terry Johnson’s Leading in Public Worship)

Coffin is asked, “What is the spirituality of the church?” His answer follows:

In a way it’s a corollary to the idea of religious liberty, the idea of the separation of church and state. It’s the doctrine that the church shouldn’t intrude into the government, that the church has a limited calling, given to it by Christ that it doesn’t have the freedom to expand upon. It’s a doctrine that’s fallen on hard times now. But the idea of it goes back as far as the Westminster Confession of Faith, which says synods are not to interfere into the affairs of the commonwealth but are to devote themselves to the life of the church. People nowadays think whatever Christians are called to do the church is called to do and vice versa. But this is a mistake. The believer is called to engage in politics, but the church is not, as such. So for example, the church can scripturally say abortion is the taking of an innocent life. But, under the doctrine of the spirituality of the church, the church can’t declare how Christians are to respond to abortion as a political matter — should they pack the court? Should they get a constitutional amendment passed? As with all political questions, it involves exercise of prudential judgments that just aren’t spelled out in scripture and Christians have a right to disagree with respect to such judgments. This doctrine is an odd thing these days because evangelicals are so convinced that if you are really going to be committed to the lordship of Christ, the church itself should be involved in all kinds of politics.

It’s a great, albeit brief interview. If it whets your appetite for more on the subject, I’d encourage you to listen to the discussion on The Reformed Forum on the same topic.

And, you can see my own very, very humble contribution to the project here.