Defiling the altar.

 

Tuesday, November 28, 2023


Psalm 71

2 Kings 23:16-30

Mark 1:40-45


Observance: Ember Day


Defiling the altar.


“It is not enough to simply not be racist” quoth the communist, “one must be actively anti-racist”. As rationally self-defeating as that particular cult may be, our Captain calls us to arms in a similar way. It is not enough to believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, wrote Paul, but in order to be saved one must also confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord. (Romans 10:9-11)


Good King Josiah did not just put the state to work in renovating the Temple; and when he discovered the books of Moses, he did not simply read them and repent. Josiah did not simply put a blanket ban on devil worship; he did not simply call canny on child sacrifice. It was not enough for Josiah to simply not be pagan. Josiah had to be actively anti-pagan. To the glory of God Josiah desecrated and defiled the places of worship where prostitutes worked and children were burned to death.


God hates evil and loves good, and so do we. Everyone has a conscience. As God gradually reveals to us just how wonderful His goodness is, and how ugly evil is, our minds are similarly gradually conformed to God’s way of thinking. This works out in our actions in two ways.


The first way is in the internal life. We see those pagan altars in our sinful desires. We wish they would be destroyed. Then we pray for their destruction, and the destruction of them is made complete. God’s triumph over the evil in our lives leaves His flag planted over the field of His victory: the defilement and desecration of those evil places.


The second way is in our external attitude. We see the evil in the world, that rebellion of the enemy against God’s loving goodness, and we are stirred to action. To be pro-Jesus is to be anti-Satan. (Matthew 12:30) To be anti-Satan is to be pro-Jesus. (Mark 9:40)


It is difficult for us who are not heroes like Josiah. We will have no books written about us. Christians will not be reading our biographies 2700 years from now. But the kingdom of heaven is growing in this world, and we all have our jobs to do. We are like stonemasons working on the cathedral of heaven on earth, each with our quota of bricks to cut. And every time the enemy loses because we stood on God’s side, the kingdom grows that much more. Defile those altars. Desecrate those places of devil worship. Love God, love one another, confess Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God rose Him from the dead.

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