Grace SensingTHE TEXT:
Luke 1:26-38
For With God Nothing Shall Be Impossible
Warning: Undefined variable $author_nicename in /srv/users/christkirk-com/apps/christkirk-com/public/wp-content/themes/christkirk/functions.php on line 895
Warning: Attempt to read property "name" on string in /srv/users/christkirk-com/apps/christkirk-com/public/wp-content/themes/christkirk/inc/genesis-changes.php on line 159
Warning: Undefined variable $author_nicename in /srv/users/christkirk-com/apps/christkirk-com/public/wp-content/themes/christkirk/functions.php on line 895
How to Raise Christian Kids
Warning: Undefined variable $author_nicename in /srv/users/christkirk-com/apps/christkirk-com/public/wp-content/themes/christkirk/functions.php on line 895
Christ ChurchINTRODUCTION
We have had a couple of sermons on how to be a Christian kid as of late. And this sermon is designed to stay in a similar vein while coming at the matter from the opposite end. The kids among us need to know that they are Christian kids and what to do about that. Likewise, parents need to know their kids are Christians and how to raise them as such.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Ephesians 6:4
Paul tells fathers that they must not provoke their children to anger. Instead, they must go in the other direct entirely. That direction involves them raising their children in both nurture and admonition. But not just any nurture and admonition: the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
KNOW
The first thing necessary in order to raise children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord is to know that they are in it. That word “in” is an important preposition. It refers to location. Where are your kids, Christians? Well, they are in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. They are not outside of it. They are not strangers, aliens, and exiles. Paul does not address them as such. This truth, however, of the insider status of the Christian’s children is not without controversy in our times. So, we need to examine the covenantal foundations of such a claim.
When God covenanted to Abraham in Genesis 17:7, He did only swear an oath of eternal life to the man Abraham. He also swore this oath to his household: “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.” God wanted His sworn oath to Abraham and his children to be so plain, He established a sign of that covenant: “This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you” (Genesis 17:10-11).
If we were to ask Abraham, “When God covenanted to be God to you and to bless you, were your children included as members of that covenant promise?” His answer would clearly be, “Why yes, indeed, they were.”
So it is with us, who are children of Abraham. As Paul says, our children are holy (1 Corinthians 7:14). They have been set apart into the realm of the holy people of God.
FAITH
What are we to do given this kind covenant grace of God? That is a good question, and the answer is quite plain: We are to believe His promise. We are the just ones. And the just shall live by faith. Examples of this parental faith abound.
Consider Job, who sacrificed for his children. He did so by faith, looking for the blessing of God on his household. Then, there is Joshua, who announced, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” This was not Joshua presuming upon God, as if he assumed God would do something for him and his household that God had not promised. No, Joshua had a promise. And it was not a special and individual promise that God made only to Joshua. Joshua was living by faith in the covenant promises God made to his father Abraham and his seed. We see that this covenant promise extends to Gentiles in the new covenant as Paul and Silas declared to the Philippian jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31).
This is the faith we exercise in covenant baptism vows when asked, ” Do you trust in God’s covenant promises on his/her behalf, and do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for his/her salvation, as you do for your own?
This faith in God’s promises must continually be exercised. We do not only exercise it once. And for this reason, we must have the fuel for this faith, namely the word of God.
RAISE
It has been wisely said, “We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.” So it is with raising Christian kids. Imagine James stepping in at this point and saying, “Show me your parenting faith without works, and I will show you my parenting faith by my paddling of the hind parts.”
There are three directives embedded in the call to raise children in the Lord. First, fathers must not provoke their children to wrath. Quite simply, don’t frustrate them. Don’t be a wet blanket on their joy. This kind of thing happens when fathers forget the covenant promise God has made to them and their household.
Second, fathers must raise children in the nurture of the Lord. This means that fathers must nourish their children, teach them, show them the way. If you don’t feed them, they will be hungry. This takes time and effort, and grace abounding. So this is when you look to God for the manifestation of that glorious promise that God will “turn the hearts of fathers to the children, and the heart of children to their fathers” (Malachi 4:6).
Third, fathers must raise children in the admonition of the Lord. That means that fathers must correct their children. They must not only teach them what to do. But they must teach them what not to do, what to avoid.
All of this teaching and correction must not be the father’s, although he is the one who must do it. But the training itself must be the Lord’s. This we can do because He has set His face toward them to bless them to a thousand generations.
Wrestling with God
Warning: Undefined variable $author_nicename in /srv/users/christkirk-com/apps/christkirk-com/public/wp-content/themes/christkirk/functions.php on line 895
THE TEXT
Genesis 32:24-32
INTRODUCTION
Scripture says that we Christians are more than conquerors. And that is one of our beloved verses. But, if we are conquerors, that means there are things standing in our way. This truth, the one about looming obstacles, can weigh down the spirit if we let it. But, there really is no need for soul troubles. We are victors after all. And what good are victors if they have nothing to vanquish?
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Jacob was headed back into the Promised Land after spending twenty years in Paddan-Aram. He was very wealthy, traveling with wives, servants, eleven sons, and abundant goods. But, he was soon to face his brother, Esau, who, as far as Jacob knew, still had a score to settle.
After sending his family over a brook for the night, Jacob was left alone and wrestled a man until daybreak (v. 24). This “man” was no mere man but God himself, a truth revealed in this passage and in Hosea 12:3, “He took his brother by the heel in the womb, And by his strength he had power with God.” When this man could not prevail over Jacob, he touched his hip socket, throwing his hip out. Jacob continued to wrestle (v. 25). Jacob would not let the man go unless he blessed him (v. 26). The man responded by asking Jacob’s name and then changing his name to Israel, for Jacob was as a prince who had wrestled with God and men, and prevailed (v. 28).
Jacob returned the question. But, instead of getting an answer, he got a blessing (v. 29). Jacob called the place Peniel, for his life had been preserved even while seeing God face to face. As Jacob passed on toward the Promised Land, the sun rose on him, and he walked with a limp (v. 31). The children of Israel remembered this encounter by not eating the sinew of the thigh (v. 32).
I remember reading this story in a children’s bible when I was very young. I remember thinking that I was going to have to go check with Dad and Mom on this one, “Are you sure about this story? I mean, wrestled with God? And won!”
It is a fascinating story with a simple truth: If you want to be blessed, you have to wrestle with God.
A PARTICULAR KIND OF WRESTLING MATCH
Jacob’s wrestling match with God is the kind of Bible story we can potentially get all twisted up. There are texts that are quite straightforward: “Do not steal.” After reading this, one does not exactly sit around the circle in the Bible study asking, “But, really, what do you think it means?” Wrestling with God, on the other hand, can result in a festive small group.
For starters, we need to be clear on who the wrestling partner is: namely, God. Jacob was not wrestling with himself. He was not wrestling with his inner demons. He wasn’t wrestling with his emotions. He wasn’t wrestling with ideas. He wasn’t wrestling with tensions. People always want to wrestle with “the tensions in the text.” Very often, all of this is simply a bit of LARPing to keep us from wrestling with the Lion. We opt for a therapy session rather than a come-to-Jesus meeting.
Also, this was no abstract wrestling match. This was not fisticuffs in the cloud. It was not a simulated boxing match or a video game. Real wrestling is wonderfully tangible. It has a way of focusing the mind. Jacob didn’t have the opportunity to do the ivory tower theologian thing. He was too focused on not getting choked out. Wrestling with God takes courage. And there is a strong inclination to get out of that particular boxing ring. If the first maneuver is to wrestle with something else instead of God. The second escape route is to pretend to wrestle with God, while manifestly not doing so practically.
FINISHING STRONG
Several truths lurk around Jacob’s night battle with the Lord that illuminate just how much adversity was wrapped up in the scuffle. Some have posited this a “conversion experience.” But this was not Jacob wrestling over whether God really loved him or not. This was not a conversion or assurance struggle. Those wrestlings do occur. And they seem large enough when they happen. But one eventually moves on to bigger battles.
The remarkable thing about this night of wrestling with the Lord is just how much Jacob had already been through. By running the numbers from a few different places in Scripture, we discover that Jacob was around 97 years old that night. He had just finished serving (and wrestling) Laban for twenty years. Before that, he wrestled with his brother, Esau, for his birthright and blessing. God had declared, even before his birth, that the older (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob). And yet, at 77 years old, when Jacob crossed over the Jordan to head for Paddan-Aram, he had nothing but his staff in hand (Genesis 32:10). Indeed, he was now a wealthy and blessed man. But it was uphill the whole way.
Twenty years earlier, when he was fleeing from his enraged brother, God appeared to him, and Jacob dreamed of a ladder to heaven with angels ascending and descending upon it. God told Jacob that he and his children, who would be as the dust of the earth, would possess the Promised Land. Jacob believed him back then, and here he is two decades later, going to the mat with the LORD.
TUSSLING FOR BLESSING
A truth that cannot be lost is that Jacob wrestled with God for covenant blessing. Not only did Jacob say, “I won’t let you go until you bless me.” But, God had made covenant promises of blessing to him. Jacob believed God back when those promises were made. Jacob obeyed God back then. He was headed back into the Promised Land at God’s Word. But, come to find out, those covenant blessings don’t come without a fight. We are tempted to say, “Why all this adversity if God has made promises to us?” But that would be to turn everything upside down. The real situation is, “Why all of this adversity? Well, God has made covenant promises, that’s why.”
AND IN ALL OF THIS, WE LOOK TO JESUS:
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:1-3)
They Shall Plant Vineyards and Eat the Fruit
Warning: Undefined variable $author_nicename in /srv/users/christkirk-com/apps/christkirk-com/public/wp-content/themes/christkirk/functions.php on line 895
Isaiah 65:17-25
INTRODUCTION
If you want to know how much trouble we can get into for disbelieving very good news from the LORD, then look no farther than Zacharias, John the Baptist’s father. The angel Gabriel told him that his barren wife, Elizabeth, would have a child even in her old age. His son would be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from the womb, and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. Zacharias, surely overwhelmed at such a prospect, responded with something like, “Are you sure? Because my wife is very old.” For his unbelief, he was not able to speak until after John’s birth.
We shouldn’t think, “Oh, that naughty Zacharias, we wouldn’t do that.” He was a priest. He was called a righteous man. And he was burning incense in the temple, much like we are now when this whole affair took place. The tidings from Gabriel weren’t just medium-grade glad. They were cosmic glad. So are ours today from Isaiah’s prophecy.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
God declares that he will create new heavens and a new earth (v. 17). He will create Jerusalem, rejoice in her, and banish her tears (v. 18-19). The child shall die at a hundred years old in this new creation, and sinners will be cursed (v. 20). But His chosen people will work and enjoy the labor of their hands (v. 21-22). The fruit they produce will not spoil because they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their children with them (v. 23). In this new creation, God will answer their requests before they even have the prayer meeting (v. 24). In this new heavens and new earth, peace reigns on the holy mountain of the LORD; the serpent eats the dust (v. 25).
I CREATE JERUSALEM
Many saints are quite familiar with the truth that God makes us new. He washes us. He replaces our heart of stone with a heart of flesh. In this, we rejoice and will continue to rejoice. But Isaiah tells us that God not only makes us new, but He also makes our surroundings new. He makes above us and below us new. He also makes a New Jerusalem.
Some want to push these new surroundings and the promises associated with them out to the end of the world at Jesus’ final coming. But we have sinners being accursed in this new heavens and new earth. We also have death. That signals to us that the new heavens and new earth which God creates have already come upon us with the first advent of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When Jesus came to earth, He came to cut a new covenant. The blood of that new covenant is like new wine. Christ said new wine requires new wineskins. Due to fermentation, old wineskins will burst if you put new wine in them. The old age could never handle what Christ came to do. He has come to save us, yes. And so look at yourself in the mirror and rejoice. And He has come to save the whole world. So take a look around and rejoice at just how widespread the glad tidings are.
PLANTING VINEYARDS, EATING FRUIT
In this new age, the promise is that we will build houses and inhabit them, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. This is a potent promise, an AR-15 promise. So we really should make sure we know how to operate this one.
We are not permitted to take this promise and test God. “Ah, God said I will plant and eat the fruit, so I will plant in winter and reap in spring.” That is not faith talking. And faith is always the way the promises of God are appropriated.
Also, we may not mistake God for a cosmic vending machine. God’s promises are not fulfilled robotically. And they are not fulfilled impersonally. The promises we trust are not random road signs that we spot without knowing who hammered them into the ground. We trust the words of our Father.
With that said, He has told us that we will reap what we sow. We should labor with that confidence. “You will not be blessed in your doing,” is a lie. “Maybe you will be and maybe you won’t be but you just need to work anyway” is a more subtle form of the lie. You are not to simply work. You are to work in faith. And God has said that the fruit of your hands will not be eaten by your enemies.
AND THEIR OFFSPRING WITH THEM
In this new Jerusalem that God creates, He blesses His elect and their children. This is one of the clearest and most invigorating promises in a book full of promises—”they [mine elect] are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them” (v. 23).
There are two basic ditches to parenting. On one side, you abdicate your responsibility to train them, letting them run wild without instruction, correction, and parental intercession through prayer. On the other side, you attempt to assume the responsibility of teaching and discipline, but you do so as worried as a squirrel in a nutless world facing the encroachment of a long winter.
Both of these ditches are marked by the same lack of faith. Has God really said that your children are with you as seed of the blessed of the LORD? Why yes, yes He has.
BEFORE THEY CALL
In this new creation in which we find ourselves, God meets our needs before we ask. Where were you when the LORD came to you? In the grave. What were you asking Him for when you were six feet under in your sins? Nothing. The same sovereign grace that met us back then, keeps meeting us in this new heavens and new earth. The Christ who gave you life keeps giving you life. The Christ who saved you keeps saving you.
Your job is to grow to expect this without ever getting quite used to it. Look around, you are chest deep in the blessings of God. When you are standing there in the days to come neck deep in the blessings of God, go ahead and ask Him, “Lord what I have done to deserve this? I didn’t even ask for this much” His reply will be, “Be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create” (Isaiah 65:18).
Pentecostal Waters (Pentecost 2023)
Warning: Undefined variable $author_nicename in /srv/users/christkirk-com/apps/christkirk-com/public/wp-content/themes/christkirk/functions.php on line 895
Christ ChurchINTRODUCTION
As we commemorate the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we not only remember that the Spirit was given to us. We also remember that the Spirit is given through us. The Spirit flows out from us to heal all of the sick places.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
In Ezekiel’s vision, he is brought to the door of the temple where waters issue forth, run down by the side of the altar, and flow east (v. 1). The man with Ezekiel took him a thousand cubits east and this river was to the ankles, another thousand and the water was to the knees, another thousand and the water was up to his loins, and after another thousand it was deep enough to swim (v. 3-5).
On both banks of this river were many trees (v. 6). The man told Ezekiel that the river flowed down to the desert and eventually would reach the sea, resulting in the sea being healed (v. 8). This river would give life. There would be so many fish that fishermen would spread their nets and catch boatloads of various kinds (v. 9-10). While the river will bring healing and blessing, there are some marsh places that will remain unhealed (v. 11). Because the waters from the sanctuary feed the trees, they won’t die. They will produce new fruit for food and leaves that will heal like medicine (v. 12).
EZEKIEL’S TEMPLE THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
The temple Ezekiel sees is the Christian Church and the river flowing from that temple is the Holy Spirit. This becomes clear by considering two other texts closely associated with our sermon text.
In Revelation 22, right after John beholds “the bride, the Lamb’s wife . . . the holy Jerusalem,” he sees the river of life as Ezekiel did. It proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. On either side of the river, there is the tree of life, bearing fruit every month with leaves that were for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:1-2).
The second text is John 7:37-39 where Jesus cried out on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, calling those who were thirsty to come to Him and drink. Christ said, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). John adds, ” But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39).
EAST OF EDEN?
A great amount of confusion comes because we do not know where we are. Many Christians think that they are still east of Eden. But God has said that in the day He cleanses His people, “they shall say, ‘This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden'” (Ezekiel 36:35). Ezekiel’s temple vision—a vision of the Christian Church remember—was full of Edenic imagery (cherubims and palm trees). After the fall, God set His cherubims at the east of Eden so that we could not get back to the tree of life. But Ezekiel saw the glory of God come from the east and enter into this New Eden (Ezekiel 43:2).
A RIVER OF LIFE
We may not be east of Eden. But there are some still out there in those desert places to which the river flows. Many Christians make the mistake of thinking that the muck of the marshes will climb their way up to the temple of God and pollute it. But water flows downhill after all. We have believed in Christ and just what He promised has come to pass. The Holy Spirit—the river of living water—flows out of our hearts to the world bringing fruit and healing with it.
FROM THE SANCTUARY
Knowing where we are is foundational. Knowing that the river is flowing is essential. But we must progress to see how this particular operation works. Christ is the source of this Living Water. We are not the headwaters. Christian living is diametrically opposed to the way one lives without Christ. Apart from Christ, all you have is the flesh. But Christians walk by the Spirit. We come to Christ and drink. Doing so, we find that water has welled up in us and flows from our hearts.
“The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come . . . Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).