Sermon Notes: The Meaning of Amen
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Joe Harby on
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INTRODUCTION:
When we consider what parents should look like, what first comes to our mind’s eye? Our tendency is to rush to some sort of a “works orientation,” and not to rest in faith.
THE TEXTS:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealedfrom faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’” (Rom. 1:16-17 ).
“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercyfor a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Dt. 7:9).
“Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent’” (John 6:28-29).
THE SKETCH:
Godly parents are characterized by their faith—which means they are confident, trusting, quiet, and serene. Of course godly parents exhibit good “work,” but it is the fruit of their faith. Their works exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, but they would not dream of trusting in those works. Paul tells us in Philippians to work out our salvation, but God is at work in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Phil. 2:12). We are to work out what God works in. In the work of parenting, we are to work out what God works in. And nothing else.
The heart of godly parenting is therefore faith, and it is faith from beginning to end.
THE WAY IT WORKS:
The human race is divided in two categories—covenant keepers and covenant breakers. Now when we make this division, we immediately tend to assume that the covenant keepers do so on the basis of their works. But covenants with God are kept in only one way—by faith from first to last. Trusting in works is how we break the covenant.
Now in the covenant of salvation, God has been kind enough to promise you your children. You do not appropriate this promise through what you might do—although if you have appropriated it by faith, then that will affect what you do.
Consider the parallel challenge of promises for answered prayer: “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24). These promises are not obtained from a vending machine, but the promises do mean something.
BASIC QUESTIONS:
First, covenant blessings are promised to whom?—God gives the promise to a thousand generations to those who keep his covenant. There are two aspects—those who are in covenant, and those who keep covenant.
Second, what do we do?—But what do we do to keep His covenant? What good things can we do? This brings us back to the words of Christ in John 6. This is the work of God . . . that you believe.
Third, real faith is the kind that gives way to constant believing—The trust and belief which we exhibit toward God is not a sporadic or momentary thing. This is what we see in the passage from Romans 1. The just shall live by faith.
Fourth, where does faith arise?—the Bible teaches that faith comes from hearing the Word of God. In the ministry of the Word, you hear God’s promises, and if the Holy Spirit gives you ears to hear that Word, then you will hear.
Fifth, what are we to believe?—we are to believe the Word of God, all of it, and with regard to this subject, you are to trust God at His word with regard to your children, and their children after them.
Sixth, when are we to believe?—as with other aspects of our lives, time and history matter. You cannot believe God’s promises for the salvation of a child if that child has already died in rebellion. This is another way of saying that there is a time of opportunity, and such a thing as too late. Now if a child is grown up and in rebellion as a direct result of how the child was brought up, God may still show grace and mercy. Pray that He does. But this grace would not be in ordinary fulfillment of covenant promises to covenant parents.
But the Question of Sovereignty Nags:
When parents panic, one of the questions they might ask is, “What if my children are not elect?” This question can be asked both by those who accept the doctrine of election, and those who do not, and who ask the question in order to illustrate a problem with it.
So remember the doctrine of means and ends—God does not ordain things willy-nilly. A good order and purpose attends all that He does.
Second, we all understand the principle elsewhere —if we consider the subject of evangelism, we understand that God is the final cause of everything, but that He ordains
the use of instrumental (secondary) causes to accomplish His purposes.
Third, we should simply apply this to our children—trusting God to keep His Word does not contradict His sovereignty. How could it? He made the promise as an expression of His sovereignty.
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We continue to consider the increasingly relevant subject of Christian resistance to tyranny. But as we look to the Scriptures, beware of the danger of excitement over “right- wing red meat.” If ever a conflict with the magistrate comes, it must be a plain matter of submission to divine authority, and not an obvious example of a scofflaw who has just recently discovered a few Bible verses. It must be a matter of an upright man standing before a lawless throne, and not two dogs fighting over a piece of meat.
“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath . . . Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 12:18–13:10).
Not only is general context important in understanding “Romans 13,” but it is also crucial to grasp the much-neglected immediate context.
Lovers of Peace: effective resistance will never be accomplished through those who love rabble-rousing (v. 18).
Give Place to Wrath: Paul opposes the spirit of vigilantism. Do not avenge yourselves, but return good for evil (vv. 20- 21). This is not inconsistent with calling the cops. In fact, it requires calling the cops. God is the one who executes wrath and vengeance (v. 19), and He does it through His deacons, discussed in the next few verses. God says “vengeance is mine,” not “vengeance is bad.” Note here that we are talking about vengeance, and not emergency self-defense. It has been rightly observed that when every second counts, the police are only minutes away.
Subject to Authority: we must not even think about resistance until we have learned this demeanor. Where must we learn it? First, we learn in godly families and churches. Learn the basic tune before you attempt the part with the difficult harmonies and complicated words.
Do Right: the existing authorities are the ordinance of God (v. 2), established to reward righteousness and punish evil. Therefore do what is right—the Christian is to be a model citizen. Too often resisters say they hate the tyranny, but what they really hate is the very idea of authority. But if we love God, we must hate all evil (Ps. 97:10), and we must also love and honor true authority (1 Pet. 2:13-17).
Love through the Law: nevertheless, Paul’s conclusion is not “do whatever they say.” His conclusion is that we are to give ourselves over to loving one another, and this is measured by means of the holy law of God. We keep the Ten Commandments, and whatever other commandment there might be,as we love. This is the requirement of God. We are to obey the magistrates to the extent it is consistent with this charge. This boundary is not just limited to major issues like “preaching the gospel.” It applies to anything that is covered by the revealed will of God.
Now remember the broad context of the Bible as we consider this. The authorities established by God are men, and therefore cannot be treated as an absolute authority. Nor does Paul require this of us in the context of this passage.
First consider the word diakonos. The civil authorities are called God’s deacons three times in this section (twice in v. 4, and once again in v. 6.). In other words, they have an authority above them, and that authority has expressly charged them with a specific task. That task is the administration of justice as defined by God. Paul assumes throughout this particular discussion that the assigned task is being faithfully discharged.
Put another way, he is not talking about a situation when the civil authority is penalizing the righteous and mandating celebration of iniquity. A deacon is a steward. He is entrusted with something, and is not the inventor of that something.
Second, consider the reason for taxes. The reason we pay taxes is that the recipients of these taxes are God’s deacons, attending continually to the administration of justice. Third, we obey for conscience sake. We submit for the Lord’s sake (1 Pet. 2:13). We are directed by conscience, and not because we granted any final authority to our earthly rulers. We obey because God says to, to the extent God says to.
To the extent a regime is in high revolt against Heaven they forfeit the investiture of the Lord. Nevertheless, because of the deceitfulness of our own hearts, even when we have determined the general right of resistance, we must take care to pick our battles carefully. A refusal to resist can be as principled before God as drawing a line. Do not accept the privilege and then make a “flaming battle for liberty” out of your reluctance to pay the bill. If you did a lot of dancing, then don’t do a lot of objecting when it comes to the piper-paying.
Focus on the meaning of marriage. Sodomy is not what a federal judge says it is. Sodomy is what the Lord who rained fire from heaven on the Cities of the Plain says it is. It has been the good pleasure of God to send us this particular challenge in the “glorifying” professions—photography, floral decorations, cake baking.
Remember the politics of child-bearing. We have many duties with regard to our children are given directly to us, without any civil middle man. This includes all questions of spanking, nurture, conscription, education, and, on their side, suicidal birth control and abortion. “In a multitude of people is the glory of a king, but without people a prince is ruined.” (Proverbs 14:28, ESV)
Be jealous for the liberties of the church. The church answers to her Head, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has said we are to preach the gospel to every creature, baptize the nations, and teach them all. He did not say to ask permission from others, or to make sure we got a license.
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The Text
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? . . .” Romans 6:1-14
Not Under Law
You, no doubt, have at some point in your Christian life heard the last verse from this passage quoted at you completely out of context. “You are not under law, but under grace.” This is usually extracted from the text, without regard to what went before, in order to free you from legalism. But I’d like to argue that it is intended to do something far better. It’s intended to free you from sin.
Sin That Grace May Abound?
First, we should note the question that Paul is trying to answer. Does God’s grace free us to live in sin? Paul’s answer to this has to do with the nature of our salvation. We were saved by being united with Christ (v. 5). This union was declared in our baptism.
Dead to Death, Alive to Life
Paul describes here what our pre-Christ self was like. He was an old man, a slave to death itself. When death spoke, the old man jumped. The power of death is sin, via the law (1 Cor. 15:56). But God’s great victory came when he took that old man’s strength and used it against him, conquering the old man with the death of Christ. And when Christ conquered death, he brought all who were united to him to new life.
Not Under Sin, But Under Grace
With death dead, the power of the old man is gone. The power of the law, which once drove us to sin, is gone. We now live a new life, in the new man. And this new man has no business returning to the grave of the dead man for orders. Because of the conquest of death, on that first Easter morning, you now have the right to walk out of this church as a living man, a free man, free of the chains of sin, free of the fear of death.
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