Podcast: Play in new window | Download
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:37-39).
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
We continue our series on Christian maturity and the pursuit of excellence, and we turn to what the Bible teaches about political maturity. In the midst of the mud-slinging of much political discourse, it can be easy to lose sight of basic Biblical principles, much less, long term goals. Apathy, perfectionism, and compromise are all enemies of political maturity. Central to mature thinking, planning, and acting politically is understanding the Lordship of Christ over all, and the different jurisdictions he has assigned to different authorities.
“… Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press. And it was told Him by certain which said, ‘Thy mother and Thy brethren stand without, desiring to see Thee.’ And He answered and said unto them, ‘My mother and My brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it’” (Lk. 8:19-21).
The Bible teaches that nations are the natural extension of families multiplying. It frequently refers to nations as the “families of the earth” (e.g. Gen. 28:14, Ps. 22:27, Zech. 14:17). In Eph. 3:15, Paul writes, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” The word translated as “family” in Greek is patria, which is derived from the root word pater, which means “father,” but it can also refer to a much larger sociopolitical group such as an entire nation of people. Patria is where we get the words “patriot” and “patriotism” and the notion of right love and loyalty to one’s nation. This family-nation connection is true biologically, but Paul is clearly insisting that it goes deeper and broader than that, since every family is named after God the Father. And this is precisely what God began to teach His people early on through the gift of His covenant. To Abraham, God said, “As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee” (Gen. 17:4-5). While biological conception was always an important part of the growth and expansion of families/nations, from this very moment, God also instituted circumcision, in effect saying, but do not think of this covenant as a purely physical/blood relationship. Abraham’s entire household, including his male servants, were circumcised, Israel went up out of Egypt as a “mixed multitude” (Ex. 12:38), and Paul goes to great lengths to insist that this covenant was by faith not by the power of the flesh (Rom. 4:16-21). “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7ff). God has always taught His people that water is thicker than blood.
All of this means that the Bible views the governments of the family, church, and state, as different sorts of families, nations, or covenants. While we have already seen this with families and nations, the Church also has “fathers” (cf. 1 Cor. 4:15) and is called the “household of faith” (Gal. 6:10), “the household of God” (Eph. 2:19, 1 Tim. 3:15, 1 Pet. 4:17) as well as a “holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9) in which Christians have a citizenship (Phil. 3:20). And this brings us full circle to the words of Christ: “‘My mother and My brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it’” (Lk. 8:21). The point is not merely one about biological family (although it includes that); it’s far more expansive, including all of our “mothers and brothers,” in our families, churches, and nations – all natural loves and kindred are subject to God’s word. When Jesus rose from the dead, He said, “All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to me, therefore go and disciple the nations…” (Mt. 28:18ff). Jesus is Lord of the nations: Lord of family-nations, church-nations, and country-nations. In the ordinary course of things, there are spiritual and physical relations and loves, similarities and differences running through all of these nations, including language, culture, belief, tribes, practice, land, work, marriage, children, history, symbols, and more. But only allegiance and obedience to the Father who is over all and in all can rank and sort these allegiances rightly (Eph. 4:6). How do you build a family, a church, or a nation? By hearing and obeying the Word of God.
Family: The marriage covenant is the core of this governmental jurisdiction, and it constantly pictures the Covenant of Grace in which Christ is Head of the Church (Eph. 5:22ff). As Lord of the family-nation, Jesus assigns the tasks of education, health, and welfare to this jurisdiction (Eph. 5-6). This includes care for elderly parents or other needy relatives (Mk. 7:11), the first line of defense for orphans and widows and similar needs, and a man that does not provide for his own household is worse than an unbeliever (1 Tim. 5:1ff). Our fundamental allegiance to Jesus sometimes does mean losing or straining family relationships where there is a refusal to hear God’s word and obey. But the gospel turns the hearts of fathers and children (Mal. 4:6).
Church: The church has been given the keys of the Kingdom by Jesus Christ and is commissioned to preach the gospel to every nation, teaching them to obey the entire Word of God, calling the saints together for worship, admitting disciples through baptism to the Table, and barring those from fellowship who do not obey Christ (Mt. 16:17-19, 18:15-20, 1 Cor. 5:1-5, 2 Thess. 3:14-15). The church proclaims the water of the Word – which is the Word of the New Covenant in the shed blood of Christ that cleanses families and nations from their animosities and feuds. But the church is not partisan to any other government. It teaches all men to honor all of their fathers (at every level), and so it teaches true family loyalty and patriotism in Christ. A patriot honors his fathers. But the church is a completely independent government from all other governments. This is why it is unseemly and confused (at best) and idolatrous (at worst) for churches to conduct worship services that confuse national identity with Christian identity.
State: The civil magistrate has been given the sword by Christ to punish criminals and keep good public order (Rom. 13:4). Civil magistrates receive their power from God and are established to praise the good and be a terror to those who do evil (Rom. 13:3). Just as God establishes the authority, He also establishes the standards and the definitions. A magistrate who ignores or openly defies the One from whom he receives his authority is cutting off the branch he stands on. Magistrates are true “foster fathers” (Is. 49:23) who hear the word of God and obey it in their offices, laws, and judgments. And those nations that keep covenant with the Lord of the nations will bring their glory and honor all the way into Heaven (Rev. 21:24). But all dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers, murderers, and idolaters will be shut out (Rev. 22:15). So it is right and good to ask God to cast down all evil, to thank Him for the true glory He has given to our nation and celebrate it, and ask Him to grow and safeguard it all the way to Heaven.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.
And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”
Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed (Acts 19:8–20).
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
This is a remarkable period in the history of our congregation. We have never seen growth like this before, and all of us are getting used to the new situation. Of course, those of you who have moved across the country to join us—welcome. In one sense you are refugees, but in a more fundamental sense, you are reinforcements. This is a new community for you, a new setting, a new set of friends, the works. Your experience of church is very different from what it was. But the same thing is true of all you old-timers. You are attending a very different church also.
Believe it or not, there are some things about Christ Church that take some getting used to. Some of them are trivial, and some of them are practices that we consider to be very important. Consider this message as an orientation to one of our customs that we believe to be crucial, and it is the one that has to do with the relationship of our children to the congregation.
“And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them” (Mark 10:13–16; cf. Matt. 19:13-15; Luke 18: 15-17).
This is a famous incident, recorded in all three of the synoptic gospels. Young children were brought to Jesus, so that He might “touch” them. What touching meant to Jesus is seen in how He responded. He took the children into His arms, placed His hands on them, and blessed them (v. 16). In Matthew, He laid hands on them (Matt. 19:15). In the Luke account, we see that coming to Jesus can be accomplished when someone carries you there because the word used of the children there is brephos, the word for infants. In all three accounts, the disciples were busy grown-ups and rebuked those who brought the children. “The Rabbi is a very busy man . . .” In the Mark account, it says that Jesus was greatly displeased with this. If you want to get that reaction from Christ, then try to get in between Him and a child being brought to Him. In all three accounts, Jesus requires us to allow the children to be brought to Him. The reason He gives is that “of such is the kingdom of God” (v. 14). He does not say anything like “children are a theology-free zone.” And in addition to all that, He teaches us that children do not have to become more like adults to come, but rather that adults need to become more like children in order to enter the kingdom (v. 15). Like the disciples in the story, we often get this backwards.
You will have noticed that our children gather to worship the Lord together with the rest of us. We all gather together. Your children are most welcome, fidgets and all. On those occasions when you need to deal with any moral disorder that broke out in your row, then please feel free to escort your child outside. That is the sort of thing that we take in stride, and pretty much everyone here has been in your shoes.
The keys of the kingdom are held by the elders of the church, and not by the fathers. It is the responsibility of our session of elders to guard the purity of the Word and the integrity of the sacraments. If your child is baptized, he is welcome to come to the Table together with the rest of us. If your baptized child is three months old and conked out in the car seat, don’t feel like you have to wake him up for the Supper. But when he is on your lap, tracking with the service, and he notices the tray going by and wants to partake, please don’t restrain him. But at the same time, because this is not a unilateral family decision, please let your parish elder know that your child is now partaking. And if you have a child who is not baptized, but who believes in Jesus, he is still welcome to the Table with us—but he should be baptized first. He is welcome to sit at table with us, but the way to the dining room table is through the front door—which is baptism.
The Confession of Faith for Christ Church is the Westminster Confession, but in addition to that we have what we call a baptismal cooperation agreement, which stipulates an allowed exception. In other words, for about 25 years we have successfully navigated and allowed for our differences on baptism, those differences being Presbyterian and Baptist. But at the same time, we have also cultivated a church community that is a welcoming place for the children. This issue is related to the doctrine of baptism, but it is not identical with it. One of the things we want to insist on is that all of you join with us in welcoming the children.
Some of you newcomers come from generic Baptist backgrounds, and others from a more defined Reformed Baptist background. You are most welcome here, but to get straight to the point, so are your kids. We can accommodate differences on baptism, but we don’t want to accommodate ungodly extrapolations from Baptist premises, or from Presbyterian premises, for that matter. An example of the latter would be, “Yes, he is serving 5 to 10 for armed robbery, but he is a good boy. He was baptized once, and we are hopeful that something good will kick in sometime.” An example of the former would be, “Daddy, I love Jesus . . .” “Let us be the judge of that, kid. Don’t you remember that lie you told three years ago?”
This is not a religion club or a theology society that meets on Sundays. We are the body of Christ, and so coming to worship the Father here means that we are coming to and through Christ. We come to the Father in the power of the Spirit, traveling the road who is Christ. We are traveling Christ the Way all together. And as we travel in that way, we want to take great care not to place a stumbling block in the road for any of our little ones.
“And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea” (Mark 9:42).
Quite apart from the doctrine of baptism itself, it is therefore a baseline assumption for our congregation here that it would be far better for us to admit a false professor to our membership than it would be to exclude a true brother. This is an assumption that we want to see cultivated throughout the congregation—because we don’t want Christ to be greatly displeased with us.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. 34 So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”
When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,
40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
and understand with their heart, and turn,
and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
44 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.” (John 12:20–50).
Christ Church