Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was tempted in every way and yet was without sin.  Prior to his explicit ministry, Jesus was a carpenter, apprenticed by his earthly father Joseph (see Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3).  As a carpenter, Jesus had to contend with the vanities inherent in labor under the sun.  Even if you “measure twice and cut once,” you still have to deal with bad nails and warped wood.  Every carpenter who has ever existed has had the frustrating experience of having to repeat work when a board split or when something wasn’t quite level.  Every carpenter has to make repairs; it’s part and parcel of the job.  What would Jesus the carpenter have done when he encountered situations such as these?

First, Jesus would give thanks.  It should go without saying that Jesus was better acquainted with the sovereignty of God the Father than any other man in the history of the world.  He knew better than Paul that God works all things (including our trials and the occasional futility of our labor) together for those who love Him.  As such, the first response from Jesus would be one of thanksgiving.

Second, Jesus would rectify the problem.  He wouldn’t just give up in frustration (as I am so apt to do), and he certainly wouldn’t make a shoddy attempt to cover it up and attempt to pass off substandard work as legitimate.  Jesus would make the necessary repairs and do so without grumbling or complaining.

We have been redeemed in Jesus Christ.  The man who repaired carpentry as a youth repaired mankind when he secured our salvation by making atonement for our sins.  And we are being conformed by the Holy Spirit into his likeness.  When we labor in futility, we need to realize that it isn’t futile if it’s in Christ.  We need to see it as a refining experience ordained by the Triune God before the foundation of the world for our good and his glory.  We ought to give thanks rather than tearing our clothes in despair and moping around in the ashes.  In persevering with thanksgiving through the trials of losing our work or the fruit of our labors, we are beating back the darkness in the name of Jesus Christ who came to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found.

“As the size of total government increases, the likelihood that any given action will be simultaneously mandated and prohibited increases exponentially.”

This includes not only laws passed by a legislative body but also all of the regulations that government departments make up on their own, and the capricious coercions that petty bureaucrats and police officers enforce which aren’t written down anywhere.

With the sheer word count of laws and within the United States federal laws and departmental regulations, I highly doubt that any single person has read all of the laws currently on the books, and that’s just one level of government.  As this trend increases, it benefits the government, as they are able to arbitrarily harass anybody who they don’t like and bring them up on charges under some obscure statute.  Local petty tyrants (police and “customer” facing employees of government agencies) are able to demand bribes as they see fit because you’re always out of compliance with some law or regulation.

Of course the only solution to this madness is repentance.  Revolts and revolutions often cast out one demon and create a vacuum that replaces the one demon with seven.  Those who will not kiss the Son will look to the state as savior.  No matter how many volumes of laws you write, no matter how much you multiply them, they will be just as impotent to save as Baal was on Mt. Carmel.

In contrast, the Mosaic law code is something that you could read in one sitting.  It provides general precepts and specific case laws with enough detail that the wise can determine what the just course of action is for any given situation.  If only the Christians in this nation could say with the psalmist:

Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.

I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.

I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.

Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.

Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

LORD, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments.

My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.

I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee. (Psalm 119:161-168)

If we trusted God and delighted in His law as we ought to, then Duchemin’s Law of Bureaucracy would be moot.

“Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18

Ryle states that “By that expression [the gates of hell] we are meant to understand the power of the prince of hell, even the devil.”  He then goes on to tell about how the history of the church is that of being constantly assailed by Satan.  The church “has always been a bush burning, though not consumed—a woman fleeing into the wilderness, but not swallowed up.”  Our goal is essentially to endure the assaults of Satan without apostatizing and all of our hope in heaven.  Most of what he says is okay as far as it goes, but there is one problem:

GATES ARE NOT AN OFFENSIVE WEAPON.

When have you ever seen gates advance upon somebody?  Unless you interpret this passage in a Macbeth-style “never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him” fashion, there is no way to conclude that the gates represent an offensive onslaught.  That would be like saying that fire represents a waterfall or Michael Jackson represents masculinity.  To paraphrase C.S Lewis, we are apt to break out the fire extinguisher in a flood.  I don’t have a problem with stating that there are times that Satan attacks, but we need to keep in mind that they are desperate counter-attacks. Satan has been on the defensive ever since Jesus cried out “It is finished,” and the writing was on the wall long before that (Genesis 3:15).

Whether you see the life of the Church as one of hunkering down in a bunker and trying to merely survive while the world goes to hell in a hand-basket or whether you see it as one of plundering the strong man’s house and storming the very gates of hell will have a profound effect on your daily life. The boldness of great martyrs of the church throughout history has been a boldness that stormed the gates of hell, knowing that the gates would not prevail.

Every soul that is converted to Christ is a conquest over territory once held by the enemy.  Beyond that, your individual sanctification is offensive warfare against the powers of hell.  Every time you confess and forsake your sin, apologize without passing the blame or making excuses, and reconcile yourself with your brother, you are slamming a battering ram against the gates of hell.  If your wife has done something to upset you and you know exactly what you could say to make her burst into tears but refrain out of love for her and love for Christ (especially when you would have sinned in that manner a year ago), you are catapulting a boulder into a watchtower of Satan’s city.  When we assemble corporately on the Lord’s Day to worship the Triune God according to His word, how much more do we prevail!  Not only do we strike our most powerful blows against Satan’s principalities when we worship rightly, but we are also there equipped for our battle throughout the week ahead.

I know that things may look bleak at times.  You can look around and see the apparent demise of Western Civilization.  You can look to Washington and shudder.  You can look at our pulpits and see hucksters trying to manipulate people into signing a card and calling it a “conversion” or would-be gurus trying to lead you on a twelve step program to inner peace.  You can look to our congregations and see grown men shaking and barking to lyrics the Vogons would be ashamed of.  On the other side we have Calvinists who are right about the doctrines of grace (at least on paper), but are so preoccupied with intramural squabbles that we marginalize our influence on the world and the rest of the Church.  You can look at families where parents (at least the good ones that don’t commit infanticide) abandon their children to daycare at the age of six weeks and to government schools and latch-key lives at the age of six years.  There is certainly still much territory occupied by the enemy.  But do we get our theology from the six o’ clock news or the Bible?  If Jesus has said that He will build his church, we had better believe Him.

When the 12 spies went into the land of Canaan, 10 of them admitted that the land was good, but could only talk of the giants and the high walls, and the fortified cities.  Only Joshua and Caleb had enough faith to say “we can take ‘em.”  Certainly the principalities and fortified cities of Satan are more impressive than those of the Canaanites, but Jesus has said he will build His church.  He himself has said “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (Matthew 28:18b-20).”  Now are we going to respond to this with a hearty “Amen!” or are we going to say “No, Lord,” and try to take the Lord of Glory aside and rebuke him?

Be encouraged and rejoice.  We have been winning; we are winning now; and we will win.  Let Christ be true and every man a liar!

Sing to the LORD, all the earth; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.  Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.  For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared above all gods.  For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and gladness are in His place.

Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples,  Give to the LORD glory and strength.  Give to the LORD the glory due His name;  Bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved.

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; And let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.”  Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it.  Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the LORD, For He is coming to judge the earth.  Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!  For His mercy endures forever.

For he fashioned dust from the earth into man, breathed life into his nostrils, and he became a living soul.  He fashioned the woman from his rib to be his help meet, creating both in the image of God.

You, O LORD, have confounded the wisdom of this world, humbling the proud and ordaining praise from the mouth of babes and suckling infants. You raise the poor out of the dust, and lift the needy out of the ash heap.  You, God Almighty, turn our mourning into dancing and our sorrow into joy!  Blessed be the LORD God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting!  From this time forth and forevermore, let everything that has breath praise the LORD in Jesus’ name through the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Maryland beat Clemson

Clemson beat Boston College

Boston College beat Virginia

Virginia beat North Carolina

North Carolina beat Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech beat Miami

Miami beat Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech beat Florida State

Florida State beat Wake Forest

Wake Forest beat Duke

Duke beat North Carolina State

North Carolina State beat Maryland

Vegas generally has odds for everything, but I don’t know whether they have the odds for a wacky, circular ACC hat trick next year.

“I want macaroni and cheese, Daddy,” she said.

Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for breakfast?  On Thanksgiving?!   I tried to discourage her, but she was not to be deterred, being a three year old with a hankering for Mac N’ Cheese.

“All right, (silent grumble) I’ll make the macaroni and (silent grumble) cheese.”

It was at this point that I realized that Janelle had a far more thankful and appropriate attitude than I did.  The Triune God of the universe had provided us with food that we didn’t work in the fields to grow, harvest, grind into flour or make into pasta, and I’m grumbling about the fact that it’s not an appropriate Thanksgiving breakfast.  Snap out of it, Mike!

Fifteen minutes later we had a Thanksgiving breakfast feast of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese which was thoroughly enjoyable.  I’m quite certain we’ll have much better food during the rest of the weekend, but I might not have a more important meal.  Sometimes an unusual event such as this which gives us just the tiniest glimpse of God’s providence, can help us to better see the whole picture.

God bless and Happy Thanksgiving!