The Biblical Role of Covenant and Church: God Always Expects Children To Grow Up In Church

The Biblical Role of Covenant and Church: God Always Means For Children To Grow Up in Church
God, You & Our Kids | 1 Thess. 2:7-12 | Pastor Duane Smets

This a topical and exegetical sermon on Biblical parenting and how the Church is designed for children of all ages, and on the role that church is supposed to play in the lives of children and parents. This sermon was originally preached on May 19th, 2013 at The Resolved Church in San Diego,CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
May 19th, 2013

The Biblical Role of Covenant and Church: God Always Means For Kids To Grow Up In Church
God You & Our Kids | 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12

I. No Adults Allowed: Church Is For Children Only (1 Thess 2:7-12)
A. Mothers: Gentle Care
B. Fathers: Authoritative Instruction
C. Brothers & Sisters: Working Together
II. Kids and The Kingdom: Resolved Church Family Ministry (Mk 10:14)
A. Teaching The Gospel In God’s Word
B. Training Parents and Parents To Be
C. Time For Moms and Dads To Receive

Introduction

Good morning Resolved Church. It’s super good to see all of you today, especially if you are checking out our church for the first time. We hope you like it. We hope you like us and will want to come back and join in on the party. We’re sort of a rag tag group of people whose lives have gone every which way, lost and Jesus has entered in and has begun to radically change us as we’ve found peace and hope in Him.

My name is Duane, I’m one of the pastors here who serves under our head pastor Jesus. My main job is preaching though I often get mixed up in all kinds of other stuff which I’m trying to learn how to not get mixed up in. I’m especially glad to be here this morning because I spent most of the week in Reno, Nevada.

Giving has been down and our church needs some money so I went to try and get some by putting a bunch down on black. It didn’t work.

Just kidding. I think that’s one of the things that gets me fired. Actually I was going to put a quarter in one of the slot machines in the airport when we were leaving but apparently non of those things accept change anymore, so I didn’t even get to do that.

I was at Reno for a conference where I was teaching a session for at our sister Acts 29 church there Living Stones…but the whole conference was such a blessing to me personally. Usually I’m up here preaching so I don’t get to sit where you are listening and I’ll tell you what…I think I like sitting and hearing a guy yell at me and tell me how good Jesus is just almost as I love standing up here and yelling at you to tell you how good Jesus is.

This is what every sermon I give is all about, Jesus. If things are not good for you right now in your life, what you need is Jesus. It’s Jesus. And it’s my goal to convince you every time to believe that. For some of you that’s because you’re not Christians yet and you need to become one and for some of you that’s because you are a Christian but you’ve got your eyes off Jesus. Jesus is the savior and it’s my prayer that He would save today!

Alright, so the title of my sermon today is, “The Biblical Role of Covenant and Church: God Always Means For Kids To Grow Up In Church.” We’re coming down toward the end of our “God, You and Our Kids” sermon series. Last week was on how God means parents to give their kids God in their home and all the time. This week is on how church is specifically designed by God for kids.

The main text we’re going to be working from is 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12, so why don’t you open your Bibles there, I’ll read it, we’ll declare it as the Word of God, thank Him for it and pray over our time in it together.

• Read 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12
• Pastoral Declaration: This is the Word of the Lord.
• Congregational Response: Thanks Be To God.
• Pastoral Prayer

So, we’re just going to have two main points for today, though each will have a couple sub points. One point will mainly deal with the text, this passage in Thessalonians and the other will deal with how we do children’s ministry at our church. The big idea for us today is that Church is For Kids. Our first point is, “No Adults Allowed: Church Is For Children Only.”

I. No Adults Allowed: Church Is For Children Only (1 Thess 2:7-12)

Hopefully most of you either have Sea World passes or have at least been to Sea World within the last couple years since it’s right here in our backyard. If you haven’t those who don’t live in San Diego are very upset with you. Sea World is fun, lot’s good shows, water type animals etc.

If you you’ve got kids, it’s especially fun because they have this whole part of the park dedicated to kids called “The Bay of Play.” My kids love to go there. They’ve got some rides which parents can take their kids on like Disneyland tea cups, I think theirs is the Abby Cups and another wanna be Disneyland ride like Dumbo only theirs is Elmo.

They’ve also got a few other things there which are super cool. They’ve got this whole area which is basically a bunch of hanging boxing bags where kids can go in and run all around crazy bumping into them. Then the’ve also got this other whole big area which is basically one giant balloon type thing, probably about half the size of this room or so, and you go in there and you just jump around on it. They’ve also got this super long twisty slide which drops down for like three stories. Super cool.

But here’s the problem. They won’t let me go into either of those areas! Neither the swinging boxing bags, not the giant balloon jumpy thing and they won’t let me go down the slide! So I just have to stand outside watching my kids have all the fun and it is so frustrating. I don’t get it. But they have this rule: No Adults Allowed.

Now, when it comes to church…we have learned in past weeks that it is inextricably tied to family. Our God is a family God. In sin we reject God as our Father. But He is good and comes after us and adopts us back into the family through His Son Jesus. The Gospel itself, the good news about Jesus is a family Gospel. And Paul, the human author of the book of 1 Thessalonians, which we are reading today…looks at being and doing church through that lens, through the family Gospel lens.

And the way he pictures the church here really is as a group of a bunch of children. No adults allowed. So let’s walk through some of the key things he says on this and how we are to see ourselves and operate with one another.

First, as under a mother, “Mothers: Gentle Care.”

A. Mothers: Gentle Care

Look at verse 7 and 8 with me. “We were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.”

Many who have studied the book of 1 Thessalonians have said it is perhaps Paul’s most intimate and personal letter he wrote. I mean look at the words he uses to describe his love for the church. It was a gentle care, affectionate, sharing of their own selves, and the church was dear to him.

What he’s doing here is sharing the heart behind his ministry. Which was important. If you look a few verses earlier, up at verse 2…when he was there it really wasn’t all that smooth all the time. Verse 2 says when he was there he declared the gospel “in the midst of much conflict.”

Sometimes when there is conflict in a church it can become easy to throw rocks at the church leadership. And Paul backs up and says wait, no, we love you and loved you deeply when we were with you.

Affectionately here, means feeling. They felt much for them. Desirous, they desired them, wanted them. They didn’t look at the people of the church as a nuisance.

How about this next line, “share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves.” You see it’s one thing to get up here and to publicly preach and to share the good news of who Jesus is and what he has done for sinners. It’s a whole other to open up your heart and your life and to share about your own sin and how your turning to Jesus the savior as the answer. That’s sharing your own self, your own life.

It’s one of the reasons I just haven’t quite been able to let go of leading a community group in my own home, even though I probably shouldn’t any more due to the needs of our church and it’s size. But I love having people into our house and opening up my heart and life and our home for others to see hear and experience. I want people to know that I’m not just saying this stuff up front here but I’m earnestly trying to live it out.

Look at the analogy Paul uses to describe his loving care, “like a nursing mother.” Okay. That’s a little weird. Almost every week in our house they’ll be things I run by Amy before I preach them…just to check in with her and make sure I don’t say something stupid in my sermon.

I’m not sure what her response would have been if one Sunday I was like, “Hey babe, I’ve been how you nurse our daughter a bunch lately and I’ve just been thinking about it and that’s how I feel about the church. Tomorrow when I preach I just want to breastfeed everyone.”

Probably should’ve checked with her to see if I could say that. I might be in trouble later.

But this analogy is actually a beautiful one. I’ve talked with my wife about this. There is something so intimate about nursing. Moms talk about a special bond that happens with their child through it. And it’s an extremely vulnerable thing. If they’re out in public they have to try and cover up with a blanket and it’s just kind of weird and awkward. But they do it because they love their baby…that and it’s usually less embarrassing than a screaming baby.

Get the point here though. I’ve mainly been looking at this from the mother’s perspective. But where does the text place us? Who are we, as people of the church in the story? We’re the baby. We’re the ones nursing.

What are we supposed to get and learn here? We’re supposed to see ourselves as children who realize that we are loved affectionately by God and His leaders. We’re supposed to hear the Gospel and see it at work. We’re supposed to feel a part of things…where people of the church are dear to us.

Do you know you are loved? Are you seeing that the Gospel actually does change lives? Are you hearing and seeing repentance and transformation taking place? Have people become dear to you?

If the answer is no to any of those questions then my plea is to dig in deeper. Get messy with people. Make some friendships. It’s risky. You’ll probably get hurt and then you’ll see and experience the power of the Gospel at work. Get messy by getting vulnerable and opening up your heart and your life. Be honest about your sin and your struggles. Tell people you love them. Go out of your way to care for them.

Church is for kids. The Gospel is not for clean people. It’s for messy people. Church is changing diapers. We’re not a church interested in just polishing up something that already clean. We’re a church for the broken, the hurt, the lost, the angry, the proud…and what we need is the love of God which is like the love a mother toward her children.

Well, let’s move on and talk about Fathers. Brothers and sisters are next in the order of the text but it seems fitting to go to fathers next, so “Fathers: Authoritative Instruction.”

B. Fathers: Authoritative Instruction

Verses 11-12. Let me re-read ‘em to get them fresh in our heads. “For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.”

So mothers are the soft side. Fathers are the strong side. Look at the things the father does here. He exhorts, he encourages, he charges and he calls.

To exhort means to instruct and to teach. It’s a push one in a certain direction and saying, “go here.”

To encourage means to pour courage in. It’s saying you can do it. Keep going. Don’t give up. You’re doing a great job.

To charge is to a serious thing. The way it’s used here is actually as a courtroom room, where a witness is called to the stand and charges are made. The charge here is to “walk in a manner worthy of God.” It’s where I get real loud and boisterous and I tell you that you need to follow Jesus. In the journey of your life, walk with Him. I charge you…do no else for all other roads lead to hell!

And then the fourth thing here, the call. There’s a call into Jesus’ kingdom and glory. What this is really doing is giving you a vision for you life. Looking to God’s kingdom and glory is a look ahead. It’s a call to imagine what your life could be if you were serving Jesus.

There are some of you right now here in this room who are on one track for your life thinking you are going to do this and that and become this and that is not what God wants for you. He wants you to be serving Him and if you are then you’ll be doing something totally different. There’s some of you right now who may be working a certain job or career and that’s not what He means for you.

My personal plan was to become a pro snowboarder and then after that (since I sucked) to have my own clothing company. It wasn’t until I understood that God had a call upon my life to serve Him that all my plans and dreams changed.

There are some of you now who God means for you to become deacons in His church. Some of you who God means for you to become pastors. Some of you who feel like the biggest screw ups and God means for you to become one of the mature ones in the faith who can teach and disciple others in what it looks like to follow Jesus.

I love John Bale’s story. One of our deacons here. John originally thought he was going to be an astro physicist. Then he thought he’d write books and did a degree in literature at Berkley. After graduating he put all of that on hold because God put it in his heart to move down to San Diego to share and show the love of Christ to his sister.

Then, God brought him to our church and after a few years John realized God’s heart and gifting in him and he became a deacon in the church who now runs our homeless ministry, is working on getting a tutoring center started up and manages all the blog writing that goes out through the church. It’s just amazing. Just think what God could do with you and how He’s made you.

Well, like when we we’re talking about mothers where does the text place us when it talks about fathers? Who are we, as people of the church in the story? We’re the children who are to receive exhortation, encouragement, charges and calling from those who play father roles in the church. Church is for kids.

So how are you at being exhorted? Are you able to receive instruction? Are you teachable? Or do you think you know everything already?

How are you at being encouraged? Are you discouraged? Frustrated? Down? Do you allow others to encourage you? Or do you push that away because you want to wallow in your sucky view of yourself?

What about receive charges? When someone gets in your face and tells you what to do how do you respond? Does it make you want to rebel and just say no, and go do your own thing? Or are you able to say, “you’re right” and you listen?

Then what about calling? Can you honestly say of your life right now that you are doing what you are doing because you have a sense that it is what God has called you to? If not, maybe you’re on the wrong track. I’m telling you, you will be so much happier in life when you are able to see yourself serving God with the gifts God has given you on the pathway to His kingdom and glory.

Well, let’s look at the third one here, “Brothers & Sisters: Working Together.”

C. Brothers & Sisters: Working Together

First, I’m getting “Brothers & Sisters” from verse 9 where it says, “Remember brothers our labor and toil: we worked night and day.” A quick technical side note. “Brothers” here is in the plural and when in the plural often includes sisters…like in Luke 21:16 and several other passages. Greek, which the New Testament of the Bible was written in, simply doesn’t ever say “brothers and sisters” because when used in the plural in a family context setting it was understood that you meant both brothers and sisters…almost like saying “siblings.” And obviously here in 1 Thessalonians we’ve got a family context thing going on.

Okay, that was for you nerdy Greek seminary dudes. And for all the ladies out there. The Bible likes you too.

Now, the context here concerning the “labor” “toil” and “work” is about money. Paul, Silvanus and Timothy when there were at this church in Thessalonica, they worked other jobs in order to pay for their own food and stuff instead of asking the church to pay for it…which was out of the ordinary.

Both Jesus in Mark 10:5-15 and Paul himself taught that the church leaders, especially those who labor in preaching in teaching ought to be paid by the church. For example here’s Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:14 “the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.”

But Paul was a single guy without a family, had picked up a profitable talent where he could make some easy money making tents and/or leather and so he liked to not ask for money. So that’s sort of the impetus to his comments here. However, he’s actually getting at much more than that.

Remember earlier when he talked about sharing not only the gospel but his own life? Here he’s getting at the same thing. He labored for the sake of the Gospel night and day. Look at it, “we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.” So while he was working, all the time he was sharing the gospel.

Here’s what I think he wants us to get from that. By making an appeal to the church here in calling them brothers and sisters he’s telling them how they are to relate to one another in the church and in what way. That day and night they are are brothers and sisters who are to be proclaiming the gospel to one another. That’s the model and example of life that Paul and Silvanus and Timothy left them.

And if you think about it this actually makes sense. Because I have three girls. They are all sisters. And they are hardly ever apart from one another, day and night. And guess what, there is situation after situation which comes out from their sinful hearts where we have to help them apply the Gospel to it.

For example. Two days ago, my oldest daughter found these socks in her closet she had now worn in a long time. They went up to her knees and were super colorful with flowers on them. What does she do? She goes to younger sister and says, “Look at my cool socks, your socks are just plain, don’t you wish you had socks like mine?”

So what little sis do? She bursts into tears and says I want cool socks too and starts throwing a fit yelling at her mom for not putting cool socks on her and starts trying to tear the ones she’s wearing off her feet.

We had to sit down and have a long talk about each of their hearts and what was coming out of them. A lack of love for one another. Jealousy. Anger. Sin. And we talked about how that made each of them feel yucky and how it upset God. Then we talked about how Jesus took off his royal socks to come down into the dirt with us and die for our sins on the cross so we could be forgiven of our ugly hearts.

Just sister life. And guess what? It’s the same in the church. In the book of Philippians, written by Paul to another church, one in Philippi…he talks to two sisters in Jesus and here’s what he says, Philippians 4:2-3 “I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord.” Get along. Verse 3, “Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together.”

Do you get the picture? Working side by side together. As brothers and sisters laboring. Working night and day for the sake of the Gospel’s work in us and among us and in our city.

So…how are you doing at this? How do you see your fellow church members? Do you see them as brothers and sisters? Or just acquaintances? Are they expendable people in your life or indispensable? When you fight do you work it out or do you just end it?

What about on the positive side? Sometimes one of my favorite things is to catch my girls loving each other. Sometimes one of them will just go right up to the other and give them a big hug and say, “I love you.” Or yesterday, our oldest was trying to help her younger sister learn how to “go potty on the big potty.” She helped her get her diaper off, sat her on the potty, gave her a book to read and then was encouraging her…just push it out. It was great.

Do you tell your brothers and sisters of the church you love them? Do you encourage them? Do you try and help them push it out?

Now, I realize for some of you both with the mother thing, the father thing and the brother and sister thing that you’re probably still new to the church or maybe you’ve been here awhile but just haven’t got connected like that. To you I want to say just a couple things…

One, it takes time. You don’t come to feel mothering and fathering and see people as brothers and sisters over night. It takes time. It takes getting to know people. Often it takes going through something hard together.

Two, it really can’t happen if the only time you see people from church is on Sunday morning during service. So we try to offer all kinds of things to try and help you really get connected to other people. There is community groups, that’s a main way. We’ve got a welcome to The Resolved dessert coming up. Go to that. There’s LampPost Cafe, our music and coffee house venue. There’s a playgroup for moms. There’s tons of various ministries to get involved serving in, you get to know people through those things.

Church is for kids. So become kids with us. We have a lot of fun together. We’ll, what I’ve been trying to do with this first main point is to theologically ground what we do here at The Resolved Church with kids on Sundays in the Gospel. I wanted us first to see that the perspective the Bible gives for church is coated in family language where we look at and treat one another as family.

We are in a covenant as God’s people and that covenant calls us to treat one another like family. Now that we’ve sort of done the heavy lifting, let’s move on and talk about some specifics of what we do here at The Resolved Church and why. So our second main section today, though a shorter one, is “Kids and The Kingdom: Resolved Church Family Ministry.”

II. Kids and The Kingdom: Resolved Church Family Ministry (Mk 10:14)

Now what’s tough about kids and church is that when it comes to the Bible we don’t have a whole lot to go on. There’s no descriptions of any kind of children’s program or ministry either in the Old or New Testaments. However, we do know that parents didn’t leave their kids at home and were expected to be at the church gatherings.

So we’ve got passages like:

Deuteronomy 31:11-13 “When all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God.”

And in the New Testament letters you’ve got words specifically addressed to children. So for example, the book of Colossians, which specifically says to read it out loud at the public worship service says this to children, “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord (Col 3:20).”

So clearly, God means for children to be in and grow up in church. When it comes to how that goes down there’s a bunch of debate. Basically you’ve got four different views.

1. Segregation. That’s where the children’s ministry and youth ministry are totally separate from the rest of the church and almost function like separate churches. The first church where I was a youth pastor at worked basically like this. On Sunday’s and Wednesdays we did our own thing separate from the rest of the church. In this view children’s ministry is more like day care or an after school program.

2. Integration. This is when you have no children’s program at all. Kids are always in church for all of church all the time and there is nothing separate for kids whatsoever anytime. In this view no one else can teach or influence children except their parents.

3. Connection. This is where you mainly have segregated programs for adults and kids but you have special events and meetings to try and connect parents to what’s going on with their kids. In this view children ministry is modeled after the public school system and their parent teacher conferences.

4. Equipping. This is where families are seen as primary, discretion is left to the head of the house, the church program coincides with the adult program and is seen primarily to train parents and parents to be, and kids are incorporated in part of every service. In this view the best of the first three methods are taken into consideration and applied accordingly.

Where we land as a church in the way we do things here is in the fourth view, equipping. The theme verse for Family Ministry at The Resolved Church is Mark 10:14, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.”

The setting is this passage is a teaching session with Jesus and his vision is the kingdom of God, so surely church worship services would be included in that thought and thus as a church we need to be sensitive and thoughtful about our welcoming of children among us and what is going to be best for them.

We intentionally call our children’s program “Family Ministry” to communicate that it’s a whole family effort, both with physical mom, dads, brothers and sisters and spiritual mom, dads, brothers and sisters.

If you go to our church website and click on the Family Ministry link under Sundays Worship Service, you’ll see the theme verse there along with this paragraph:

“The Resolved Church cares deeply about family and kids. We see that the story of God in the Bible is a story of God gathering a people for himself. This involves physical births and spiritual new births where we are adopted into God’s family through Jesus. Thus we see family life as the paradigm for church life and as such seek minister to children in a fun and safe way where they not only learn about Jesus but their parents are also equipped to better minister to them in the home.”

So what I want to do is walk us through it by looking at three principles which are important to us: Teaching The Gospel In God’s Word, Training Parents and Parents To Be, and Time For Moms and Dads To Receive.

First, “Teaching The Gospel In God’s Word.”

A. Teaching The Gospel In God’s Word

From day one, our primary concern is that our kids would learn the Gospel and learn God’s Word. In our experience kids too easily either just play games or just learn Bible stories but do not learn the Gospel. Above all we want the kids to learn about who Jesus is and how is the savior for their hearts and lives.

We’ve used different curriculums in the past which we made sure taught about Jesus every week and then about a year and a half ago we moved to doing something which I absolutely love and that’s where the kids read and learn from the same text we are looking at and studying out here in the adult worship service. So right now, the kids back there are reading and learning about being a part of a church family from 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12.

One of our pastoral interns writes the lesson each week, which I always have a chance to offer some pointers about where I’m going with the coming sermon. There’s a memory verse and with the older class a catechism question and there’s always a take home craft to go with it. Parents can get the lesson online each week through our Church Community Builder utility to see what the lesson was and reinforce it during the week.

What I love about this is almost every Sunday on the drive home I ask my daughters what they learned at church and they tell me about their lesson. Because the parents are in church they better know how to talk to their kids about what they learned…because ultimately, as we learned last week, parents are responsible to God to teach their kids about Him in the home.

It’s sweet because we’re all learning the same thing together and it’s a very practical way of exercising the principle we believe in of Jesus being the Head Pastor of the Church who leads us and teaches us through His written Word. Hearing the Gospel and learning God’s Word at church is for kids.

That’s the first thing. Now let’s talk about “Training Parents and Parents To Be.”

B. Training Parents and Parents To Be

Not only does us learning the same thing together both the kids and the adults help parents talk to their kids during the week but the vision for family ministry itself is intentionally an equipping ministry. This has been Pastor James Martin, our Marriage and Family Pastor’s vision from day one.

Many…probably even most people come into our church have either not grown up in a Christian home and if they did there was next to zero spiritual leadership in the home. Thus we intentionally view our Family Ministry as a discipleship opportunity where moms and dads can better learn how to teach and train their kids at home in God’s Word and the Gospel.

So we love it when dads are serving there and we love it when moms serve there and we love it when parents who are planning to have kids but don’t serve there and we love it when single guys and gals serve there, so they gain a heart for kids. That’s why I always tell single dudes, you want a good girl for a wife…serve in family ministry and I tell the girls you want a good dude for a husband, look who’s serving in family ministry. That’s the kind of guy who will love you and lead your home well.

It’s part of the reason why in the words of the ceremony we use for those who publicly covenant as Resolved Church members we ask, “Do you now publicly confess faith in Jesus as savior and covenant to serve him, his people and their children as long as Jesus has calls you to be in this church?” And then we ask the current members, “Do you covenant to help these new members of our church to love Jesus, to you promise to care for them, and serve them and their children as long as Jesus has them in our church?”

It’s because we see raising up children in church as a big part of what we are all about as a church.

Matthew Henry, an old Puritan I like says this on the subject, “God has appointed that parents should train up their children in the knowledge of (his law and Gospel) …that as one generation of God’s servants and worshippers passes away, another generation may come, and the church, as the earth, may abide forever, and thus God’s name among men may be as the days of heaven.”

Family Ministry is a training ground for parents and parents to be. Church is designed to help parents learn how to parent their kids. Church is for kids.

Well, let’s move on to the third piece of our family ministry vision, “Time For Moms and Dads To Receive.”

C. Time For Moms and Dads To Receive

This third piece of our church’s Family Ministry vision is that it is an opportunity to minister to parents. There are parents who need to be able to sit and hear the Gospel preached without distraction either because they are not yet believers and have never truly heard the Gospel before or they are Christians and they just need to be ministered to.

If you’re a parent you know some weeks are just hard, due to your kids and being able to leave with your church family for a little bit, so you can focus on God can have a powerful rejuvenating effect. This is an immense help to parents so that they can better serve their kids the other 167 hours in the week.

If you think about it practically, not having crying babies or loud children in service is simply wise. It doesn’t bother me at all because I remember the days when we didn’t have any children at our church and I prayed and ask God to send some and He did. So I love it and can handle it. But most of you can’t and get easily distracted when that happens.

There is something so unique about a sermon, where you have the opportunity to sit for 45 minutes or so and just listen and to think about your heart, your life and God and have him minister to you. We want to do everything we can to set things up to make that as successful as possible.

Now a couple practical things in light of that…

One, we take the safety of our children seriously. No one ever works back there who hasn’t been through an application and interview process complete with fingerprinting. The gate at the check in serves as a protective barrier to the family ministry area. And no teacher is alone with the kids, we always have works in twos. So we’re doing everything we can to make sure we don’t have any Catholic School boy and priest type stories go down at our church!

Two, a second thing. Parents are not required to check their kids into the family ministry. We leave that up to the head of the household. If you’d rather your son or daughter be in the service that’s fine with us. Personally, my oldest daughter, who can, sit in the adult worship service about once every 4-6 weeks because I want her to experience what we do together.

Three, we are intentional about having times in our worship service all together. That’s why every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper I say if you like you can go get your kids and have them participate with us. We don’t mandate anything, which keeps our regulative principle convictions in place.

That’s The Resolved Church Family Ministry in a nutshell. Let the children come to me. Church is for kids, not just little kids but the big kids who parent them.

And that’s where I want to conclude things today.

Conclusion

You may have picked up on it and maybe you didn’t but I’ve been repeating this phrase in different ways all throughout the sermon, “Church is for kids.” “Church is for kids.” “Church is for kids.”

Our work in 1 Thessalonians 2 was all about how church is for kids. Our work from Mark 10:14 and the Resolved Church Family ministry was all about how church is for kids.

Church is for kids. So I thought a good way to address our hearts to respond to the Gospel today would be by reading Jesus words in Matthew 18:2-4. Here’s what He says, “And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

What Jesus says for all of us is that we must become kids. No adults allowed. Only kids get the kingdom.

This passage is where the phrase “child-like faith” comes from. Usually child-like faith is reduced to simply being a call to just love God and leave the details and the barriers to faith behind. Now to be fair, there is some truth to that. There is a simplicity to the gospel and to believing in and loving and following Jesus.

But children rarely act humbly. Which is what Jesus says is how you turn and become children. Children constantly think they can do anything and everything all by themselves. My two year old daughter will be brushing her teeth, which for her consists of sucking and chewing on the toothbrush…so I’ll be like, “let me help you sweetheart.” And she replies, “No Daddy! No! I can do it!” She doesn’t think she needs me.

The other day I went to the grocery store to help my wife get the groceries because she said it had been really difficult lately with girls. To make it fun I let my two year old push the cart while I walked behind her guiding the cart. But she kept pushing off my hands, saying, “No Daddy! I do it!.”

You see children are not humble at all. Constantly with our kids when they are playing together we are referee-ing between them because they fight over toys…mine, mine, mine. Kids are not humble.

I think what is Jesus getting at…I think He is getting at dependence. Children are dependent on their parents for everything…to protect them and provide for them. If a child does not have a parent doing that, they will simply not live. They will die, literally. If we just left our daughters at our house by their selves for a few weeks and went on vacation, they would die. They are utterly and totally dependent on us. That’s why when you file your taxes you mark, “dependent.”

So I think when Jesus says, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” I think he means we must become totally dependent upon Him. Our kids need Jesus and so do you. Do you need to turn today? Do you need to become more dependent on Jesus and less on yourself?

Church is for children…a bunch of children who have realized that their lives are lost and broken apart from Jesus.

Church for children who realize they need spiritual moms, dads and brothers and sisters to teach them, guide them and help them.

Church is for the place Jesus has made so that the children may come unto Him and receive the gifts of the peace and the joy of His kingdom.

The Gospel is the good news that there is forgiveness for us becoming too adult like…too dependent on ourselves…too distrusting of God as the Lord of our lives…too far from Him. All of it is sin and Jesus died for our sins on a cross and rose again so we might become kids again.

So today as we respond to the Gospel message this morning, respond as a kid. Come to Jesus, who rules and reigns and say I depend on you, I follow you, I trust you. You are good and I love you. Church is for kids. So let’s be kids today and respond with childlike love and faith.

Let’s pray.

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By admin – May 20, 2013

How Spanking Can Be Both Biblical & Unbiblical

Blog | Pastor Duane Smets

In Tedd Tripp’s book Shepherding A Child’s Heart he takes a whole chapter to address spanking titled, “Embracing Biblical Methods: The Rod.” In the chapter he walks through six different things:

1. The Rational Behind the Rod – “In their natural state…children have hearts of folly. Therefore they resist correction. God has ordained the rod of discipline for this condition…The child not submitting to parental authority is acting foolishly. He is rejecting the jurisdiction of God. He is living his life for the immediate gratification of his ants and desires…Ultimately, to refuse God’s rule means to choos his own rule that leads to death. It is the height of foolishness. The rod of correction brings wisdom to the child. It provides an immediate tactile demonstration of the foolishness of rebellion.”

2. What is the Rod? – “The rod is a parent, in faith toward God and fait fulness toward his or her children, undertaking the responsibility of careful, timely, measured, and controlled use of physical punishment to underscore the importance of obeying God, thus rescuing the children from continuing in his foolishness until death.” Tripp spends time looking at it as: A Parental Exercise, An Act of Faith, An Act of Faithfulness, A Responsibility, A Physical Punishment and A Rescue Mission.

3. Distortions of the Rod – “Since the rod is an idea that has fallen on hard times in our culture, we need to clear our minds of some of the distorted conceptions of the rod. I do not want you to think I am advocating one of the popular misconceptions of the rod. Here are some things the rod is not: Not the Right to Unbridled Temper, Not the Right to Hit Our Children Whenever We Wish, Not Venting of Frustration, Not Retribution, Not Associated with Vindictive Anger.”

4. Common Objections to the Rod – In this part of the chapter Tripp responds to these criticisms slowly walking through a discussion of each of them: I Love My Children Too Much To Spank Them, I’m Afraid I Will Hurt Them, I’m Afraid It Will Make Him Rebellious and Angry, I’m Afraid of Teaching Them to Hit, It Doesn’t Work, I’m Afraid of Being Arrested for Child Abuse.

5. The Fruit of the Rod – Tripp offers eight fruits. (1) Teaches outcomes to behavior. (2) Shows God’s authority over mom and dad. (3) Trains a child to be under authority. (4) Demonstrates parental love and commitment. (5) Yields a harvest of peace and righteousness. (6) Teach self-control and respect. (7) Returns the child to a place of blessing. (8) Promotes an atmosphere of closeness and openness between parent and child.

6. The Best of Both – “If you focus exclusively on either the rod or communication, you will be like a ship with all the cargo loaded on one side. You won’t sail very well. Communication and the rod are not stand alone methods. They are designed to work together…Authoritarian parents tend to lack kindness. Permissive parents tend to lack firmness. Assess which distortion of biblical training you tend toward. Strive for greater balance.”

I’d encourage all parents to get a copy of Shepherding A Child’s Heart (available online or at our church bookstore) as one of the best and most helpful books on Gospel Centered parenting. In the above video you can watch and listen to Pastor Tedd Tripp talk about The Rod and what he has written about it in his book.

May God help His parents to point to His glory by disciplining their children in the way He knows is going to be best for them.

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By admin – May 17, 2013

The Biblical Call of Covenant: God Expects Parents to Give God to Their Children

The Biblical Call of Covenant: God Expects Parents to Give God to Their Children
God, You & Our Kids | Deuteronomy 6:1-9 | Pastor Duane Smets

This a topical and exegetical sermon on Biblical parenting and how God expects all parents to pass on their faith to their children. This sermon was originally preached on May 12th, 2013 at The Resolved Church in San Diego,CA.

Listen

The Resolved Church | www.theresolved.com

The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
May 12th, 2013

The Biblical Call of Covenant: God Always Expects Parents To Give God To Their Children
God You & Our Kids | Deuteronomy 6:1-9

I. Teach Them God Is Not A Choice
II. Teach Them To Love God
III. Teach Them To Fear God
IV. Teach Them God Is The Only Choice

Good morning. Happy Mother’s Day to the mothers. Proverbs 31:28 says of Godly mothers, “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also and he praises her.” To our mothers who may or may not be here, “we are blessed by you.” And from us who are husbands to mothers, “we praise you.” We love you and are amazed by you and what you do for our children.

Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher and pastor of the 19th century spoke endearingly of the role of his mother in his life in his autobiography. Here’s some of what he said:

“I am sure that, in my early youth, no teaching ever made such an impression upon my mind as the instruction of my mother; neither can I conceive that, to any child, there can be one who will have such influence over the heart as the mother who has so tenderly cared for her offspring.

Never could it be possible for any man to estimate what he owes to a godly mother.

How can I ever forget her tearful eye when she warned me to escape from the wrath to come?

How can I ever forget when she bowed her knee, and with her arms about my neck, prayed, ‘Oh, that my son might live before Thee!’

Nor can her frown be effaced from my memory — that solemn, loving frown, when she rebuked my budding iniquities.

And her smiles have never faded from my recollection — the beaming of her countenance when she rejoiced to see some good thing in me towards the Lord God of Israel.

I cannot tell how much I owe to the solemn words of my good mother…I remember, on one occasion, her praying thus: ‘Now, Lord, if my children go on in their sins, it will not be from ignorance that they perish, and my soul must bear a swift witness against them at the day of judgment if they lay not hold of Christ.’ That thought of a mother’s bearing swift witness against me, pierced my conscience, and stirred my heart.”

My prayer for the sermon today is that God’s word would pierce and stir our hearts toward a great love and worship of our savior. We selected all the sermons of our current series, “God, You & Our Kids” along with their titles long before we even started preaching through them and it just so happens that the one for today on Mother’s Day is, “The Biblical Call of Covenant: God Always Expects Parents To Give God To Their Children.”

When we started this series there was some concern about whether we would be narrowing our focus too much by doing something so directly family oriented. But I assured everyone, as we have seen thus far that it really wasn’t going to be a whole sermon series on parenting. We’ve gotten into all kinds of things from the Trinity to Demonology, Sex, Marriage, Calling and Covenant.

However, today will actually be on parenting probably more than any other sermon of the series. But if you don’t have kids or your kids are all grown up, don’t tune out. There is a perspective God gives of Himself in His instructions to parents which, if you are able to get a hold of it, will bring you to a deeper love, appreciation, and understanding of who God is and what He is about and up to in your life.

The main text we are working with today is Deuteronomy 6:1-9. So let’s go ahead and read it, declare it as God’s Word, thank Him for it and pray over it.

• Read Deuteronomy 6:1-9
• Pastoral Declaration: This is the Word of the Lord.
• Congregational Response: Thanks Be To God.
• Pastoral Prayer

We’re going to look at four things today we get from this passage which parents are to teach their children. The first one is to, “Teach Them God Is Not A Choice.”

I. Teach Them God Is Not A Choice

In our western world with it’s esteem for freedom, independence and the elevation of human choice to an almost inalienable and indispensable right for every individual…the attitude of many when it comes to religion and children is that you ought not teach it to them. Here’s how one lady put it on a popular mommy blog:

“I personally, will not teach my children religion, I won’t do it. I am searching for what makes sense to me, right now, but whatever I find will only be MY beliefs. I will not indoctrinate my children, and I do not understand doing so. There is so much turmoil and so many problems created by teaching a child to practice a specific religion. If we teach our children how to be free-thinkers, then we can trust that they will come to a good and knowledge based decision.

I think that I largely rejected Christianity, initially because I was tired of being force-fed someone else’s beliefs and being told that they were right and there were consequences to not practicing them the very same way that my parents did…I don’t want my kids to have to feel that inside, so I will leave religion up to them entirely.”

Our passage for today here in Deuteronomy has a very different. Instead of leaving the belief in God and following him up to a child’s choice it mandates for God and His ways to be taught to children. Verse 1 declares it a commandment, statue and rule that parents are to be taught are are to teach, verse 2, “your son and your son’s son.” Which includes daughters too. It’s very explicit.

Just to make sure there is no possible room for confusion or argument, look at verse 7. “You shall teach them (the commandments and story of God) diligently to your children.”

Now usually the argument behind not teaching your children to believe in and follow God is that children are young and impressionable and will believe whatever you tell them. The assumption is that religion is this big unknown which you cannot be very sure about, so you should’t act like it’s simple and clear cut when it isn’t. That’s the assumption.

But that’s not the way Deuteronomy sounds. Everything sounds very simple and clear cut. There’s commandments, statutes and rules given by God who demands to be obeyed and they are to be taught to kids.

On top of it the funny things about the idea of not teaching God to your children is what you do teach them in that…because by not doing so you inherently teach them God is not that important and that it doesn’t really matter all that much whether they believe in and follow Him and His Son or not. So really, you’re still teaching them a kind of religion…just not the religion of Christianity.

The picture the Bible is giving here of parents and their children is that they all live under and serve the LORD together.

The book of Deuteronomy and the commandments given in it are being written down and recorded by Moses. If you know the story then you know that God’s promise to Abraham, who we’ve been looking at the last couple weeks, God’s promise to Abraham had been coming true.

Abraham’s descendants, his kids and their kids and their kid’s kid’s kids had been multiplying greatly. They ended up in Egypt a few hundred years later and there were literally thousands in Abraham’s family…but they ended up being turned into slaves by an evil king in Egypt.

That’s when God raises up Moses and uses him to lead His people, the family of Abraham out of Egypt and He does so by doing all these cool miracles attacking each of the Egyptian gods. After they leave Egypt they wander around camping in the wilderness for forty years and at the end of it Moses, their leader dies and a guy named Joshua takes over and leads them into the land.

After they’ve been in the land a while the people start picking up beliefs from the people they encounter there and start worshipping some other gods from other religions along with their worship of YHWH, the God of the Bible. You see believing there are multiple equally valid ways, beliefs or religions is not a new thing…it’s actually a very very old thing.

Anyway, worshipping other gods is a serious thing to God, a big no no. So Joshua gathers together all the people and in our Bibles in Joshua 24 he recounts the story of what God did in delivering them out Egypt and then he makes this phenomenal, earth shattering plea and challenge. It’s in Joshua 24:14-15 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord…choose this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

As for me and my house, the children who live in my house under me as their father…as for me and my house…we serve the LORD. This is the picture the Bible gives for how parents are supposed to see and teach their children when it comes to God. We believe in and serve the LORD. Period.

So in our house, my own personal house, we don’t teach our kids to decide for Jesus. We don’t teach them that’s it’s up to their choice. We’re not encouraging them to pray a prayer and ask Jesus into their heart. We simply teach them that in our house and in our family we believe in Jesus. He is our LORD. He is our savior. We serve Him and Him alone and there is no other option in our house. They are covenant children who belong to God and we will serve Him.

At our house we have a family mission statement. Well…I have one I wrote for our family. It’s the background on my computer screen. There’s five parts to it, each part has a prayer and a belief statement. Here’s the first one, Mission Statement: “My wife and children would see God as the most important treasure of our home: We love God, live under His Rule and worship Him in all we say and do.”

I want our kids to grow up knowing that God is of utmost importance to our family. Not just some mere option or choice among many. And I think that’s biblical.

So parents, teach your kids that God is not a choice. Mandate a belief in God in your home.

And for those who are not parents, recognize that you as an individual live in a house. Have your house serve the Lord.

Which is perhaps a good question for all of us to ask ourselves. Does God rule over our homes really? When people come into your house is it discernible that this house lives under the authority and commandments of God and His covenant? If someone was to just be with you for 24 hours what would they witness? Does your house serve the LORD?

Well, let’s move on to looking at some of the things I’d hope people would see…the things we’re supposed to be doing. First to, “Teach Them To Love God.”

II. Teach Them To Love God

Let’s dig into this Deuteronomy 6 passage. There’s so much here. I’m just going to fire through a bunch of stuff on it.

Beginning in verse, 4 “Hear O Israel.” This is both a plea and a battle cry. Listen. Harken. It’s a call to attention and directive to ears…not just to audibly be aware of sounds but to understand, follow and obey. “Hear” is the Hebrew word, “shema” and this passage has been seen as central by God’s people since the day it was given.

Many Jews throughout the years have called it The Great Shema and orthodox Jews today will pray twice a day and recite these words, “The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” Huge words and a clear statement of what kind of god we’re talking about here. This is unmistakably and undoubtedly monotheistic. ONE GOD and THE ONLY GOD.

Then comes verse 5, words which Jesus said in Mark 12 encapsulated and summarized all the commandments of the Bible, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Love. Love is put as the undergirding principle of all of God’s commands. We’re not going to take time to get into it today…but the context here of chapter six in the story of Deuteronomy is when God is making a covenant with all the people of Israel…similar to like what he did with Abraham only this time His presence expressed with fire consumes an entire mountain and God literally writes the covenant stipulations on tablets of stone with his very own finger.

But here’s the amazing thing about it…in the midst of all this technical, legal terminology (commandments, statutes, rules) God says love is guiding principle of all His commandments. How you do or accomplish any of the commandments God gives is to by having love for Him.

And love with all one’s heart, soul, and might. Heart, the Hebrew word “lev” meant the seat of a person, their intellect or their being. Not so much one’s feelings but one’s thoughts that give rise to feelings. Soul is the spirit of a person, the non-physical eternal part of who they are. And might is physical strength with one’s body and faculties.

Then look at the next verse. It re-emphasizes the importance of the word of God and love for Him being on the heart. “These words that I command you today shall be on your heart.” So think about it. It means that your heart knows it. Surely it would include memorizing but not just memorizing it but knowing it in your soul.

The ancient Jews would have their kids memorize the first five books of the Bible. Often they would try and help them memorize it by having them write it out and they would have them write it out with honey so they would associate God’s Word as something that was sweet.

Getting God’s Word in our heart is so important because everything comes from the heart. And this is probably the most important principle in parenting…recognizing a child’s heart being more important than a child’s behavior, because all the behavior comes out of the heart.

Tedd Tripp in his book “Shepherding A Child’s Heart” says this on it:

“The heart is the control center for life. A person’s life is a reflection of his heart. Proverbs 4:23 states it like this, ‘Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.’ The heart is a well from which all the issues of life gush forth. The behavior a person exhibits is an expression of the overflow of the heart.

The heart determines behavior. What you say and do expresses the orientation of your heart. (In) Mark 7:21 (Jesus says) ‘…from within, out of men’s hearts come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.’

What children say and do is a reflection of what’s in their heart…behavior is not the basic issue. The basic issue is always what’s going on in the heart…Parents often get sidetracked with behavior…behavior irritates and thus calls attention to itself. Behavior becomes your focus. You think you have corrected when you have changed unacceptable behavior to behavior you sanction and appreciate…The problem is, your child’s needs are far more profound than his/her aberrant behavior.

A change in behavior that does not stem from a change in heart is not commendable; it is condemnable…In Matthew 15 Jesus denounces Pharisees who have honored him with their lips while their hearts were far from him…Yet this is what we often do in childrearing. We demand changed behavior and never address the heart that drives the behavior.”

You see God has always been after the heart, from day one. The picture of verse 6 here in Deuteronomy is actually a gardening picture. Parents are to implant God’s word and a love for Him inside their child’s heart. So often we encourage behavior instead of God’s love. We’ll say to our kids, “be good.” But that’s not really what we want is it? So recently we started saying, “be loving.”

And verse 7 that takes diligence. That means intentional, regular, consistent work, effort and energy devoted to it. And in the rest of verse 7 through to 9 God gives a number of ways to help accomplish that…how to help foster a love for Him in their hearts. Let’s look at each real quick.

One, “talk of them when you sit in your house.” So first you need to have time when you sit down in your house together just to hang out and talk. No TV, no toys…just sitting and talking about God. Every night at our house (except community group night) we sit down as a family and read the Bible together, talk about it, sometimes memorizing it, then we pray for each other and after that sing a song or two.

Two, “(talk) when you walk by the way.” When you go places. We do that most the time here by using cars. So God means for us to talk about with our kids while driving in our cars. And it’s really more than just travel here…walking by the way means when you’re doing stuff. It’s helping kids see the connecting points with your work and all the stuff you do and interact with. There’s no place you will ever go or thing you will ever walk by and see or get involved with that is not meant somehow to point back to God and His glory.

Three, “(talk) when you lie down.” That’s when you go to sleep. We are meant to go to sleep thinking about God and teaching our kids to do the same. Every night when we sleep we are reminded that God gives rest to our souls.

Four, “(talk) when you rise up.” That’s when you wake up. We are meant to wake up with thoughts of God and His Word on our minds. It doesn’t matter if you’re not morning person. To bad. That’s actually a sign that you normally probably need even more of God in the morning.

Five and six. “Bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” Now the ancient Jews and the orthodox Jews of today took this one super literally…so you’ll see them wearing what are called “phylacteries.” One piece is a leather strap with Scripture written around it they wear on their arm. The other piece is a headband with a little box with Scriptures inside attached to it which sits on your forehead.

Now, personally I don’t think that’s what God meant. He wasn’t after some whacky fashion. The point was to see God in everything we do with our hands is meant to be done for Him by His strength. The point with having God and His Word as frontlets between the eyes wasn’t about wearing some funky box on your head it was about looking at everything in life with God as the filter or lens we look through. We’re meant to see everything from the perspective of His Word.

Then the last one mentioned, the seventh thing in verse 9 is “writing them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” This communicates that God is meant to rule over our homes and our cities where the gates lead. All of our homes and cities are meant to exist for the love and worship of God.

The picture here is so wholistic. Basically, teach kids to love and be talking about Him and His word in everything everywhere all the time. It’s really just making that the rhythm of your life with kids. Brainwashing them as much as possible so that they see and have love for God in everything.

So how is that going for you…either as a parent or just a person. Are you diligent? Or are you in and out…some days but not others? Do you sit in your house and think and talk about God? How about in the car or when your out and about? Do you make the connections? Do you go to bed in prayer thanking God for the day and depending on His rest? Do you wake up looking to Him for His grace and power? Do you work with your hands out of a love for God or are you working for money, or status or some other reason? Do you see like through the glasses or lens of God’s love? Does the love and word of God rule your home?

May God help us to love Him more through all of these ways in all of life. Well, there’s another side to love and that’s fear…that we’re not only to teach our kids to love God but to also, “Teach Them To Fear God.”

III. Teach Them To Fear God

Look at verse 2 here in Deuteronomy 6, “that you may fear the LORD you God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keep all his statutes and his commandments which I command you, all the days of your life and that your days may be long.”

The other side to love is fear. Don’t get me wrong…there’s a bad kind of fear that can cause you to cower and lack courage. But some fear of rejection can be good for you. For example, I rightly should be afraid that if I cheat on my wife she might leave me. I should be afraid of that.

And when it comes to God we should rightly be afraid of Him. He burns up mountains. He causes and calms storms. He has fancy angels who can kick serious butt. And He has a hell prepared for the devil, his demons and all who reject Him. I mean when you read all the stories…God’s kind of scary.

Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

Jerry Bridges in his book, “The Joy of Fearing God” says, “(The) lack of fear toward God, in the sense of being afraid of His judgments is actually the very root of wickedness.” Quoting John Murray he continues, “It is the essence of ungodliness not to be afraid of God when there is reason to be afraid…The Scripture through prescribes the necessity of this fear of God under all the circumstances in which our sinful situation makes us liable to God’s righteous judgment.”

Look at verse 2 again. The fear of God is connected with keeping or obeying his commandments. The result of keeping them is a blessing, your days may be long. So what happens if you don’t fear? Then you don’t keep the commandments and your good days get cut short because of God’s judgment.

God is holy and just. He rightly judges sin and the disregard of His name and commandments. It a big deal. One time in the Bible He struck a couple of guys down dead just for now carrying His holy ark of the covenant in the way He commanded.

R.C. Sproul in his book, “Holiness” writes, “We fear God because He is holy…It is a servile fear, a fear born of dread. God is too great for us; He is too awesome. He makes difficult demand on us…In His presence we quake and tremble. Meeting Him personally may be our greatest trauma.”

So how do children learn to fear God? Discipline. Ephesians 6:4 is super clear. “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

So first, Dads God holds you responsible. Moms may at times implement your discipline if you’re not home or for some other reason…but you are meant not only to be the primary teacher but the primary disciplinarian in the home. There’s a reason why the saying, “wait till Dad gets home” came about.

Do not let your children get away with breaking God’s commandments. Discipline them. Make sure you do it in love. Make sure you do not do it angry, that would be provoking them to anger. But discipline them. All these modern methods of parents where you don’t say no to your kid and you only give them positive reinforcement is not only practically ridiculous, but it’s in clear violation of the Scripture’s teaching that a child needs to learn authority and consequences for sin.

Listen to Hebrews 12:6-9 says, you can turn there and look at it with me, Hebrews 12:6-9 “6 The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?”

So a few things on this passage. One, when a father disciplines his kids he’s teaching them about the discipline of God. Two, discipline is an expression of a father’s love for his kid. Three, if you don’t discipline your kids they will not respect you.

How do you discipline? The word “discipline” itself actually means teaching. So the goal of all discipline is to teach.

When kids are younger they are to be disciplined with a stick. Proverbs 13:24 “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.“ We’re not talking child abuse here, hitting hard or in anger but using a rod, a stick as a symbol and sting of judgment. Hands are for love and time outs don’t hurt.

The Bible here uses strong language for those who forgo using a stick. We don’t have the right to dismiss or cut verses out of the Bible because we think we know better. I know I’m probably ruffling a few feathers here with this one and we can’t take a bunch of time on it in this sermon but I’d recommend to you the chapter on The Rod in “Shepherding A Child’s Heart” because it walks through all the reasons why it’s good to use it and the objections against it.

For us in our home I was pretty anti-spanking, especially with a stick until I was forced to deal seriously with Scripture’s teaching on it and actually studied out the reasons why. Now I’ve got a paint stick I painted black like sin which I keep up in my closet. If one of the girls needs to be disciplined I take them out of the situation into another room. We sit down and talk first about what happened. What in her heart was coming out. How it displeased Daddy and more importantly God. I explain that I don’t enjoy spanking her but how I’m not a good Daddy if I let her get away with it and then I get in trouble with God. Then I spank…wait for the crying to subside. Then I give a hug. I pray the Gospel over her, sharing that Jesus died for whatever the sin was and forgives her. Then I have her go apologize to whoever she sinned against. And then we go play something to demonstrate restored relationship. The whole thing ends up taking 5-10 minutes because I try to be so intentional about not discipling in anger and about it actually being a teaching moment.

The thing I want my kids to get most is that sin is serious and God takes it seriously. So serious He sent His son to die on a cross for sin. And so serious that all who do not have His blood covering their sins go to hell for eternity. And I don’t want any of my kids to end up there. I want them to fear God and put faith in His son.

Joel Beeke, in his book, “Parenting By God’s Promises” asks, “Did you have to teach your children to sin. I’m quite certain you did not. They did not require any coaching to lie or to be selfish, rebellious, proud, or violent. Such behavior is rooted in the very nature of a child…It’s humbling to realize our children are sinners. How did they acquire this pollution of sin? They got it from their parents; we passed it on to them…This should deter us from being high-handed dictators in the home…In acknowledging that our children are sinners, we must reckon with the seriousness of sin. Sin must be dealt with…Biblical parenting is a solemn responsibility because we are called to treat our children as God would treat them.”

Last week I asked us if we had a healthy fear of God. Perhaps this week it’d be proper to ask, if so, what knowledge of God has come about because of that? How has God discipled you by having a healthy fear of Him? What are your kids learning about God by how you discipline them?

Well, that brings us to our last point for today, to “Teach Them God Is The Only Choice.”

IV. Teach Them God Is The Only Choice

We started out the first point in the sermon saying to teach your kids that God is not a choice. Here in this last point what I want to impress upon us is that we need to teach our kids that God is the only choice they can make. God is their only hope.

There’s a well known verse in the Bible, Proverbs 22:6 which says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Some have treated it like a prophecy passage, to which I quickly remind them it’s a proverb not a prophecy. Proverbs in the Bible are basically like spiritual forms of “an apple a day keep the doctor a way.” Proverbs are general sayings of how life will work out most the time if you follow their instructions.

Sometimes parents who did teach their kids God’s Word seem to stray from the faith of their family and then they are left asking, “What happened?” “I thought our kids were covenant kids.” I don’t have any clean cut answers for questions like that.

Joel Beeke in one of his other books, “Bringing The Gospel To Covenant Children” has some helpful handholds, “Covenant theology does not negate the need for us to evangelize our children, nor does it discourage us from doing so. Scripture offers no guarantees for the salvation of our children, but the covenant of grace offers us a great deal of hope outside of ourselves in a sovereign, covenant-keeping God, who will not forsake the works of His own hands. Covenant theology should encourage us to evangelize our children as we daily, prayerfully and expectantly depend on the triune God for His blessing upon our efforts.”

Here’s what I think we point our kids to. Look one last time at Deuteronomy 6 and look at the promise in verse 3, “Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.”

What we want for our children is for it to go well for them and for them to live happily and abundantly in the land flowing with milk and honey. The milk and honey land is the good land and life of the promise from God’s covenant to His people.

When we point our kids there it’s putting their focus on the end goal. We’re telling them no other life, no other land, no other God can satisfy your soul for no other god is true nor good like our God. In the end, all will bow before Him…some in worship, some to receive eternal judgment. Loving and serving God is the only choice.

While they are in our house there is no choice for them…we serve the Lord. When they are out of my house they will have a choice to make and my goal every day, day in and day out is that when that time comes they will choose to serve the God whom I love.

Well let’s conclude.

Conclusion

We’ve covered quite a bit of ground today. I tried to cram a lot in this one giving a lot of practical advice and instruction, especially for you new parents. But I have to tell you something.

If you go out and try and do all these things for you kids…you’re gonna fail.

I mean if you tell them, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” Here’s what will happen. They will still rebel against the Lord at times…in your house. And there will be times when they see you not serving the Lord.

I mean if you tell them to love God with all their heart, mind and strength and if you try and talk to them about God and His Word when you sit, walk, lie, rise, in all the work of your hands, in how you see things with your eyes, and over your home and city…you will have times when your heart gets weak, when you mind and strength are gone, when you fail at loving God in all the areas of your life and they will see it. And even if they try they won’t be able to do it either.

I mean if you try to pass on a healthy fear of God discipline them God ways…there will be times you don’t discipline rightly and there will be times they don’t respond well to the discipline.

I mean if you try and share with them how good God is, milk and honey…there will be times when they see you seeking and finding pleasure in things other than God.

Do you get what I’m getting at? This passage, Deuteronomy 6, is a tall order. Here is the good news. Despite our failures and inability to accomplish all that God has commanded God has had grace. He sent His Son on our behalf to do what we could’t.

Jesus never chose other than God…always following God doing His will since day one.

Jesus is the love of God manifested among us. 1 John 4:10 says in this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Jesus feared the Father like none ever before. In taking on our sin upon the cross, hell was unleashed upon Jesus’ soul as he cried out, “My God, My God why hath forsaken me.”

And Jesus for the joy that was set before Him came into the world and died for us on a cross…showing us that God is the only source for our hearts and lives.

You see, the good news is that though we could never do all these things God calls us to…Jesus did them for us on our behalf and that’s why He’s so good. And that’s why our kid’s biggest need is the need for Jesus. And why our biggest need is the need for Jesus.

Jesus rose again and went to prepare the place flowing with milk and honey, where we who believe will live with Him one day in that great city along with loving families. What a day that will be!

Let’s pray.

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By admin – May 14, 2013

The Biblical Promise Of Covenant: God Always Provides What He Commands

The Biblical Promise of Covenant: God Always Provides What He Commands
God, You & Our Kids | Genesis 22:1-24| Pastor Duane Smets

This a topical and exegetical sermon on how the faith of Abraham in binding Isaac provides an example for how our faith will be tested, how our families can become an idol to us and we can be glad in Christ’s work to fulfill God’s covenant. This sermon was originally preached on May 5th, 2013 at The Resolved Church in San Diego,CA.

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The Resolved Church | www.theresolved.com

The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
May 5th, 2013

The Biblical Promise of Covenant: God Always Provides What He Commands
God You & Our Kids | Genesis 22:1-24

I. The Testing of our Faith
II. The Idol of Family & Feelings
III. The Joy Found in the Thicket

Introduction

Good morning greetings. Happy Cinco de Mayo.

Well, last week we entered into the covenant section of our God, You and Our Kids sermon series. We spent the first seven weeks of the series looking at the Biblical story of family in regards to the being of God and the Gospel He calls us into. Now with last week we started the first of four sermons in this series based on covenant…that covenant is the backbone of family, this week that covenant is the promise of family, and then for two weeks that covenant is what we teach our family both at home and church.

Now, if you were not here last week and you’re unfamiliar with the word “covenant” then just know the word covenant means an agreement between two or more parties. It’s a serious pact, promise or commitment and in Scripture it’s symbolized by this old world practice where they would take an animal, cut it in half and then walk between the two pieces in order to say “may you be cut in half like this animal if you break the terms of this covenant.” So covenant is a big deal.

Last week we looked at the story of Abraham and how God makes a covenant with him and how according to Romans 4:24 that covenant is the same covenant given to us by God for us who believe in Jesus as our savior. This week we’re going to continue with the story of Abraham, fast forwarding in his life to probably 15-20 years to this time when God once again comes to Abraham and this time asks him to sacrifice his son Isaac. So the main text we’re working with today is Genesis 22:1-24.

Let’s go ahead and read it, declare it as God’s Word, thank Him for it and pray over our time in it together.

• Read Genesis 22:1-24
• Pastoral Declaration: This is the Word of the Lord.
• Congregational Response: Thanks Be To God.
• Pastoral Prayer

This story is one of the most well known stories in the Bible. It’s the best known event of Abraham’s life. It’s definitely one of the main climaxes of the entire book of Genesis. It’s written with careful and haunting beauty combined with immense theological depth, raising some of the most essential questions about God, man and faith.

Søren Kierkegaard, famously developed his entire philosophical system based on this story in his infamous book, “Fear and Trembling.” Tons of musical artists have written songs based on the story…Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, John Baez and my personal favorite Bob Dylan. He actually has a whole album titled after his song, “Highway 61 Revisited.” The first stanza says,

Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”
Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on”
God say, “No.”
Abe say, “What ?”
God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin’ you better run”

So good. Gotta love Dylan. Well, there’s three things we’re going to look at and talk about today from this text, “The Testing of our Faith,” “The Idol of Family and Feelings” and “The Joy Found in the Thicket.” Let’s get into our first point, “The Testing of our Faith.”

I. The Testing of our Faith

Alright, so the first verse of our chapter starts out with this summary and title line for the story, “After these things God tested Abraham” and God proceeds with this call upon Abraham to go and sacrifice his son on mountain. Now, killing one of your own children would be difficult for any loving parent. But especially for Abraham when we consider the background of this story.

It was back in Genesis 12 when God first came and introduced Himself to Abraham and promised him a son. He was 75 years old at the time (Gen 12:4). Twenty years go by and when Abraham is 95 years old (Gen 17:1&21) his son Isaac is born. During the between time there was all kinds of ups and downs and things which happened where Abraham tried to get a son by hooking up with a gal other than his wife, Abraham gets mixed up in a couple military wars and there was doubt on his part whether God was ever going to actually fulfill his promise. But God did.

By the time Genesis 22 rolls around Abraham is finally sitting pretty. He’s got a son. He’s living well in a land where he’s made a treat with the nearby king. His son has grown…it’s tough to tell exactly how old he is here…old enough to carry wood but young enough to ask a childlike question…so probably in his teens. But the point is Abraham probably feels pretty good about his life at this point as it looks like God has come through and he is now living the good life…the one he longed for after following God for around 35 years or so at this point.

But then God shows up and he shows up in the same way He did the very first time Abraham met God. In Genesis 12:1 God comes and says “go” and promises “blessing” (Gen 12:2) and here once again in Genesis 22 God shows up and says “go” and as a result is offered blessing (Gen 22:17-18). The difference here with Genesis 22 is that this “go” is a very different kind of “go.” With this “go” God launches Abraham into a crisis of faith.

Now the first thing for us to see here is that this is a “test.” “Tested” here in verse one is the right translation…some older translations have “tempted” but that communicates the wrong idea. James 1:13 clearly states, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one.” So God is not trying to get Abraham to sin.

Some have wondered that because the Bible is very clear that sacrificing children is sin. Believe it or not it was a popular thing back in those days. Both El and Molech were ancient gods people worshipped. The thinking was life and food came from whatever god you worshipped thus they were entitled to a first-portion of your animals, grain and your firstborn child. Later in the Scriptures God expressly forbids this. Here’s what Leviticus 20:2 says, “Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.”

So if God’s intention all along was not for Abraham to sin in sacrificing Isaac then what was his intention? There’s a clue in verse 12. After Abraham proves his willingness to obey God in sacrificing Isaac God responds and says, “now I know that you fear God.” Which brings up another question. Did God then not know what Abraham was going to do…was God somehow playing some kind of game to see what would happen? The open theists would like to think so.

No. Besides the fact that the Bible is clear that God knows everything and determines everything from beginning to end…the simple answer is to recognize the the word here for “know” is a very personal word here in this context in a very emotive moment. It’s the Hebrew word, “yada” and it’s actually the same word used in Genesis 4:1 when it says Adam “knew” his wife Eve and she became pregnant. “Know” here has this huge experiential aspect to it.

The point is God intentionally brought Abraham into this unique experience in order for God and Abraham and Isaac to go through together which would have powerful result for their relationship and their trust. Listen to what the apostle Peter has to say on this: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you (1 Pet 4:12).” And “for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor (1 Pet 1:6-7).”

So the standpoint of Scripture is that God intentionally brings trials into our lives into or to test us and that testing actually demonstrates the genuineness of our faith. Yes, to God AND to us. When you go through an immense emotional and spiritual trial and you are forced to lean on God and rely upon Him and His promises you end up coming through it have a deeper love, appreciation and adoration for the God you have believed in. It’s like that with any relationship. You go through something hard you end up growing in deeper together.

That’s what God was doing with Abraham in his testing with him. And it’s a lesson for us. Because each of us will be tested. God is the God of the covenant and He will prove that covenant to us through difficult and challenging times.

If you are a Christian who has set your hope on Christ you will face times when you have a crisis of faith which God brings your way…a time when it will not be easy to continue and where you may ask question you thought you’d never ask. How are you to face those times?

Like Abraham did here. What’s his response right after God initiates the test by telling him to go sacrifice Isaac? Immediately, verse 3, “So Abraham rose early in the morning…and went.” Then throughout this the story there is just this slow resolute determination that runs through it.

Did you pick up on that? It’s geniusly written. The pace of the story makes the journey seem to take a long time. The details given about the donkey and the wood…the conversation with the men who were going along with them…then Isaac’s question…then the building of the altar…I mean the story moves so slow with the tension just mounting and mounting…and at every point Abraham is resolute and continues moving forward with silent strength and fortitude.

Where does that come from? We get the answer in God’s words to Abraham in verse 12, “Now I know that you FEAR GOD.” It comes from a fear of God. When you rightly and properly fear God, you obey. Without question, without argument, without complaint…you obey because you live as one under the authority of God.

Paul Trip in his book, “Shepherding A Child’s Heart” talks about the importance of our children learning to obey under the authority of their parents and he brings up the point that we all are to live under authority and are meant to have lives of obedience. Here’s what he says about Abraham,

“Abraham is on God’s errand. He is performing a task on God’s agenda. God has called him to these things. He is not freelancing. Abraham does not write his own job description. God defines the task and Abraham acts.”

With faith comes a demand for radical obedience. Abraham did not argue. He did not try and reason with God. He did not try and consult with someone else. He simply obeyed. This is what it means to truly fear God. The true heart of a worshipper is one who delights to obey Him, no matter what.

Well, I want to move on and talk more about the significance of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his only son here but before we do let me press us on this first point.

Between you and God…in your relationship with Him…have you experienced trial? Have you gone through something where you have really come not just to know He’s the God of the covenant in your head…but have come to know His love and commitment to you deep in your soul through a life changing experience? Has your faith been “tested by fire” as Peter says?

If you have or are in it right now…know that is God’s goodness to you. He only does that for those He loves…trust Him and know He is at work and be faithful. So hold on.

Which brings us to some other key questions for our hearts. How is your obedience? Do you live your life with a healthy fear of God? Is it your intention and desire to live as one under authority and to obey? Or do you think more along the lines of “what can I get away with?” Do you have a deep heart resolution to follow God and do what He asks regardless of what He calls you to? Or are there some things you’ve put off limits to God? Saying I’ll do this and you can have that…but not this or this?

God is after all of us. Not just part of us. And God designs to demonstrate to us the reality of His work and covenant to us. May God work in each of us today a deeper level of surrender and trust for Him as He brings trials our way.

Our next point is a key point for us in this particular sermon series. We’ve talked a lot over the last couple months about the importance of family, the call to family in the Bible and the blessings and purposes of it. But what we haven’t talked about yet is the dangers of being devoted to and esteeming family. So let’s talk about, “The Idol of Family and Feelings.”

II. The Idol of Family & Feelings

In the story of Genesis 22 there is this unmistakable emphasis on Isaac and his importance to Abraham as his son. He’s called his “son” no less than ten times and there are these heavily endearing remarks made about him.

Look at verse 2. “Take your son, your on son, Isaac, whom you love.”

Look at verse 7. When Isaac calls over his father and asks what he is doing, he says, “My Father.” A melting phrase to his dad. Abraham, in a tender and broken reply says, “Here am I, my son.” “My son.” It’s a precious phrase only a dad who loves his son can say.

I don’t even know how to put ourselves in Abraham’s shoes. Never being able to have any children at all. I’ve sat with couples in my office and prayed with couples who couldn’t get pregnant and the pain in their hearts has been immense. But for Abraham, finally…finally when he’s 95, an old man, God gives him a son.

It’s not wrong that Abraham loves his son. It’s natural. He should. It’s even commended in the story for it. But the concern or the question of the story is if Abraham loves him too much. If Abraham had come to the place where he loved his son more than he loved God? Whether or not his son had become the true source of his happiness rather than God?

This is the focus and heart of the entire story. It’s about whether or not Isaac has become dangerous to Abraham’s faith. Thus, Abraham’s faith is weighed against common sense, human affection and his life-long ambition and hope.

When something else takes the place of God in our hearts…where it is THE MOST important thing to us and is THE SOURCE of our ultimate joy and happiness…Scripture calls that an idol, which is a false god. And what this story with Abraham and Isaac highlights for us is how easy it is to do that with family.

Family is a good and godly thing as we’ve seen over a number of weeks but it can also be a very dangerous thing because it can easily take the place of God in our hearts. You can make an idol out of your family.

Ted Kluck (who’s written a couple books I like), he and his wife Kristen who have two sons wrote a little article not too long ago titled, “Worshipping at the Altar of Family.” Here’s what they say…

“The Bible has much to say about the blessing of a godly spouse and a houseful of children and includes lots of good directives on how to keep those relationships healthy and godly…so it is easy to think of family as an unqualified good. ‘Family values’ is practically synonymous with ‘orthodox Christian.’

(But) isn’t family still a gift, not a god? Isn’t it still something that can be elevated into first place, which should be reserved for God alone?

Often men fantasize about being the richest guy, the prodigy in their field, wielding power and influencing people, being known and respected (and having) a family (who) supports (him). Many women’s fantasies include an adoring, faithful spouse; attractive, obedient kids; people who depend on you, love you, give you a reason to get out of bed, regularly stand up and sing your praises…And it is idolatry.

It’s the thing that causes the mom…to post the 67th picture of her daughter’s birthday party on Facebook. It’s the reason for the magazine-quality family pictures all over the house. It’s why the mother-of-the-bride obsesses about her daughter’s wedding and treats it like a part-time job. It’s why Christmas (cards) get sent…and on and on.”

It’s easy to make an idol out of family. To make it so it is THE most important thing in your life where everything else comes second to it. And part of what makes it so easy is it’s culturally acceptable. It’s almost like you’re supposed to be given this free pass if you bail on someone, ignore them or do something sketchy if you did it because it was for your family.

Sometimes I’m just amazed at how people will so easily stay at home instead of be at church or stay at home and not be at community group all because of the excuse of “family” and they think that’s okay. It’s not.

A couple years ago we had this couple who could not have kids and I remember praying with them and crying with them. The doctors told them it would be next to impossible. But we prayed. And God answered. They were so overjoyed they even named their kid after a main Bible character. We were so excited for them. But shortly after their baby was born they began to slowly drop off, detach and withdraw. Now they’re not a part of any church and the last time I talked to the dad he said it was because Sunday was his only day off and he needed to be with his family that day.

It is easy to make an idol out of family. I find myself doing it when I think that having children or being a good dad is what makes me a good Christian or what makes God like me and be happy with me. That’s idolatry at work in my heart.

In the story of Abraham and Isaac the other thing that’s connected is his feelings. Not only is Abraham’s family addressed but his comfort and place of peace. Abraham is just sitting at home when the story starts and God sends him off on this journey, pulling him into this dilemma which questions the source of his joy.

So much of the time we are only moved to do things which are easy or if we think they’ll make us immediately happy. In this story, Abraham is called to do a hard thing, which does not feel good. You see, you can not only make an idol out of your family but also out of your feelings…thinking that only things which make you feel good are good or of God. Sometimes they’re not.

Well…here’s where the story goes. The pinnacle of the story is the sacrifice. What are you to do when you find an idol? You smash it. The idol of family had to be smashed in Abrahams heart and that’s what God leads Abraham up on the mountain to do.

Matthew Henry, the old puritan says, “The best evidence of our fearing God is our being willing to serve and honor Him with that which is dearest to us and to part with all to Him and for Him.”

Here’s how Søren Kierkegaard describes it in Fear and Trembling, “Abraham rose up early in the morning. He hurried as though to some celebration…He said nothing to Sarah, nothing to Eleazar. After all, who could have understood him? Hadn’t the test by its very nature exacted an oath of silence from him? And he clave the wood, he bound Isaac…He knew it was God the Almighty that tried him, he knew it was the hardest sacrifice that could be demanded of him…and he drew the knife.”

The true sacrifice in the story is the sacrifice which was accomplished in Abraham’s heart. This morning for us…are there some things which need to be sacrificed in your heart?

Has family been or become an idol for you? Has having a good family taken the place of God in your heart? That can either be because you cherish your “good” family or long for it so much because you haven’t had it and just having God isn’t enough.

The old 70’s worship leader Keith Green wrote this song about the place of God, his wife and his son in his heart. The song is “Pledge My Head To Heaven.” And if you listen to it, before the song starts he says he wrote it because he hit a period in his life where he realized in some ways it was easy to give up his life to follow God but to surrender his wife and his kids was a whole other thing and that he needed to do as Abraham did and put them on the altar. Here’s some of the lyrics…

Well I pledge my wife to heaven, for the Gospel,
Though our love each passing day just seems to grow.
As I told her when we wed, I’d surely rather be found dead,
Than to love her more than the one who saved my soul.

Well I pledge my son to heaven for the gospel.
Though he’s kicked and beaten, ridiculed and scorn.
I will teach him to rejoice, and lift a thankful praising voice,
And to be like Him who bore the nails and crown of thorns.

I’m your child, and I want to be in your family forever.
I’m your child, and I’m going to follow you,

Oh no matter whatever the cost, I’m gonna count all things lost,
Oh no matter whatever the cost, I’m gonna count all things lost.
Well I pledge my son, I pledge my wife, I pledge my head to heaven,
I pledge my son, I pledge my wife, I pledge my head to heaven, for the gospel.

Keith Green died in a plane crash shortly after that. For all of us…may God help us to pledge our families to Him, no matter what the cost.

Well let’s move on to our last point for this morning, “The Joy Found in the Thicket.”

III. The Joy Found in the Thicket

Many people when they read or hear about this story they are in utter shock. “How could such a person do such a thing?” “How could such a God ask such a thing?” But such a reaction only comes from a shallow reading.

You see, in many ways this story is about Abraham and his faith…but if that’s where we end it then we end up missing perhaps the most important part of the story. Because the real story is the story of God in it and his covenant promise and provision for Abraham. It’s in two key parts.

The first part is in verse 5 and 8. In verse five we’re clued in on a key detail and some key words from Abraham. Apparently there were some other servants traveling with them up to the mountain and at a certain point Abraham stops and look what he says to them. Verse 5, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and COME AGAIN to you.”

Now Abraham is either lying here or he has some reason to believe he AND THE boy are both going to make it back alive. I think it’s the latter.

Look at verses 7 and 8. Clearly they are going to make some sort of sacrifice. They have all the preparations for it…except an animal. So Isaac asks his dad where the lamb is they are going to sacrifice. And look at Abraham says. Verse 8, “God will provide himself the lamb.” Once again Abraham is either lying or he has some reason to believe that God would provide. Again I think it’s the latter.

The New Testament actually tells us what Abraham’s reasoning was. Here’s what Hebrews 11:17-19 says. You can turn there and read it with me if you want. “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead,.”

Did you catch verse 19? He considered, he reasoned that God was able even to raise him from the dead. The late James Montgomery Boice says here that Abraham’s logic passes Aristotle here. He reasoned: Number one, God is not a liar. Number 2, God promised a son. Number 3, God promised a numerous family through this son. Thus, if God really wanted him to kill Isaac then God must have planned to resurrect him back to life so that he and the boy would return alive!

Abraham puts all his stock in the provision of God! John Calvin says, Abraham came to the conclusion that “God could not be his adversary” and “by hope reconciled God’s command with his promise.” He exhibits this silent confidence that God will provide.

And the absolute best part of the story is that God does in fact provide. Just at the very moment when he’s about to do it. I mean the detail in the story is gripping! He has full on laid Isaac up on a pile of wood and tied him to it. No sign of struggle from Isaac…just trust in his father’s confidence in God. Abraham literally raises up the knife and then God thunders out of heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” Stop.

Then look at verse 13. Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, behind him was a ram (a male lamb), caught in a thicket by his horns. And thus, Abraham sacrifices the lamb instead of Isaac as a substitute and names the mountain, “The Lord will provide.”

Now do something with me. Turn in your Bible to John 8. This is the second key part of recognizing God’s covenant provision. In John 8 midway through the chapter Jesus is talking to a bunch of religious folk who don’t think He’s really God or the savior come into the world. And in verse 56 he says something very interesting about Abraham, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”

Jesus says two key things there. One, the source of Abraham’s joy was in a promise made to him that he would “see” Jesus’ “day.” Two, that he did see it and was glad. So here’s the question. What was the promise and when did he see it?

I think the promise is found back in Genesis 22:8 in what Abraham said to his son, “God will provide for himself the lamb.”

And when did he see it? Genesis 22:13 “behold” the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

You see. I think there was more going on here than just the whole deal between Abraham and his son. Much more. We learned last week that Abraham believed God and his promise to bless and provide for him and God credited it to him as righteousness. But there was still the problem of how God could do that and not be corrupt. As Romans 3:26 says, how he could still be “just and justifier.”

God can’t just credit righteousness without punishing unrighteousness…and Abraham was unrighteous and he knew it. Yet he believed God, he trusted in the future provision of God for his unrighteousness.

So when Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the Ram caught in the wooden thicket I think he saw more than just a provision for Isaac so Isaac didn’t have to be sacrificed…I think he looked and what he saw as a picture of Jesus, the lamb of God who would come into the world and be caught up onto some wood to be sacrificed for his sin and unrighteousness…and it made his heart glad. Joy. Gratitude. Love for the God who provided according to His covenant promise.

There are so many parallels to Jesus with this story. Genesis 22 shoot this massive arrow into the sky that arcs and lands with pin point accuracy on Christ. Here’s all the ones just on Isaac.
• Isaac and Jesus were both sons of a promise given many years before their birth.
• Isaac and Jesus were both born to women who experienced a miracle in conceiving.
• Isaac and Jesus were both greatly loved their father.
• Isaac and Jesus both carried their own wood to their sacrifice.
• Isaac and Jesus both willingly laid down their lives for their father.
• Isaac and Jesus both were laid down as a burnt offering for sin.
• Isaac and Jesus both appeared later down the mountain alive.

This week in the office as we were prepping for today one of the interns asked me, “So who is Jesus in Genesis 22? Isaac or the ram.” My response was Jesus was everything in the story…that it is all about Him.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who wasn’t just laid up on the altar but actually gave his life. Jesus is the true and better son of the true and better Abraham, God the Father who at much pain and cost to himself sacrifices his son in order to save many. Jesus is the true and better ram, who gets sacrificed once and for all time so no other animal ever needed to be sacrificed again. Jesus the the voice of the angel. The wood is Jesus cross. The fire is the wrath of God for sin. The mountain was literally most likely the hill of calvary just outside Jerusalem…that’s where ancient Moriah was. Jesus is just all over this story.

And here’s what I want us to get from that, which more than just seeing that and thinking, “oh that’s cool.” What I want us to get is what God has done for us in Jesus. Abraham looked forward to the provision of Christ and it made Him glad. We looked backward to the provision of Christ…does it cause great and deep joy in us? Here’s a story to help us.

“Back in the days of the Great Depression a Missouri man named John Griffith was the controller of a great railroad drawbridge across the Mississippi River. One day in the summer of 1937 he decided to take his eight year old son, Greg, with him to work. At noon, John Griffith put the bridge up to allow ships to pass and sat on the observation deck with his son to eat lunch. Time passed quickly.

Suddenly he was startled by the sound of a train whistle in the distance. He quickly looked at his watch he noticed it was 1:07 – the Memphis Express, with four-hundred passengers on board roaring toward the raised bridge. He leaped from the observation deck and ran back to the control tower. Just before throwing the master lever he glanced down for any ships below.

There a sight caught his eye that caused his heart to leap poundingly into his throat. Greg had slipped from the observation deck and had fallen into the massive gears that operation the bridge. His left leg was caught in the cogs of the two main gears!

Desperately John’s mind whirled to devise a rescue plan. But as soon as he thought of a possibility he knew there was no way it could be done.

Again, with alarming closeness, the train whistle shrieked in the air. He could hear the clicking of the locomotive wheels over the tracks. That was his son down there – yet there were four hundred passengers on the train. John knew what he had to do, so he buried his head in his left arm and pushed the master switch forward.

That great massive bridge lowered into place just as the Memphis Express began to roar across the river. When John Griffith lifted his head with his face smeared with tears, he looked into the passing windows of the train. There were businessmen casually reading their afternoon papers, finely dressed ladies in the dining car sipping coffee, and children pushing long spoons into their dishes of ice cream. And John Griffith cried and said, ‘I just sacrificed my son for you’ (from “Is It Nothing To You” by D. James Kennedy).”

Unmistakably, the story of Abraham and Isaac is really about the story of God who sent His son into our world and then up a mountain onto a cross to be sacrificed so you and I might be saved. The joy to be found in the thicket is the joy to be found in knowing Jesus paid the price for your sin on a cross. If we read this story this morning and don’t end up there we miss it’s entire purpose. The purpose of this story is to point us to the provision of Christ’s new covenant blood.

So, let’s conclude and prepare to receive the Supper of Christ where we respond in faith to that covenant.

Conclusion

We’ve covered a lot of ground today. We hit up how our faith gets tested, how family can become our god, and how God provides a substitute to save us in Jesus. So as you prepare your heart to respond ask God to help you see what area most needs to be addressed in you this morning.

Are you in a time where your faith is being tested? Don’t falter. Trust God. Fear him. Obey. Rely on Him, His promises and His people.

Most of all remember Jesus who was tested in the garden and emerged from that place to take securely placed steps up to the hill of calvary so that your faith might not fail.

Are you in a place where you’re recognizing that family in some ways has become your god and that needs to be crushed and sacrificed in your heart?

For all here who are married and have children…this morning in your mind and on your heart just lay them down at the table and pledge them to God. Say God my family belongs to you. You are first.

For all here who are not married and without children simply say, “God, you are enough. I don’t have to have my own family to be happy. You are first.”

Then lastly, for all of us. Let’s be glad today. Abraham looked and saw the provision of God in Christ, the lamb of God who takes away sin and he rejoiced.

Jesus died an eternal death so we don’t have to. The fire of God’s judgment for our sin and unrighteousness was poured out on Him so we do not have to withstand the flames of hell. Jesus is our substitute. The provision of God. And that ought to cause us who believe to have great gladness unto our God.

So when you take the bread and you dip it in the wine do it with a smile on your face today. As Abraham saw the ram and was so filled with joy…today look and behold Christ the savior and rejoice.

Let’s pray.

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By admin – May 7, 2013

The Biblical Thread Of Covenant: God Always Works Through Covenant

The Biblical Thread of Covenant: God Always Works Through Covenant
God, You & Our Kids | Genesis 15:1-21 | Pastor Duane Smets

This a topical and exegetical sermon on the thread of Covenant throughout Scripture, revealing it as the language through which God communicates His grace, as well as the foundation of family. This sermon was originally preached on April 28th, 2013 at The Resolved Church in San Diego,CA.

Listen

The Resolved Church | www.theresolved.com

The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
April 28th, 2013

The Biblical Thread of Covenant: God Always Works Through Covenant
God You & Our Kids | Genesis 15:1-21

I. The Covenant Nature
II. The Covenant Maker
III. The Covenant Keeper

Introduction

Good morning everyone. It’s good to see you all today after being gone last week. If you’re new or visiting it’s good to see you as well. My name is Duane. I preach most of the time here at The Resolved as the lead preaching pastor in our pastoral team who all jointly serve under our head pastor, Jesus.

Last week we had Matt Chandler speak via video, who is the president of the Acts 29 Network, which is sort of like the denomination we belong to and have belonged to since we started this church. You heard Matt talk about church planting, the importance of it and how God has committed Himself to saving souls through it.

Since we started The Resolved we’ve been able to be instrumental in the starting of two different churches here in San Diego and in the last year we became home and host to the San Diego Church Planting group where have had the opportunity once a month to help support and encourage nearly 20 different church plants in our city. So God is using us and it is awesome. Especially considering where we’ve come from.

Today is a special day because today is our 8 year anniversary as a church! Eight years ago we started this church with about 6 people in a tiny little apartment in Pacific Beach. Now, by God’s grace we’ve grown to nearly 400 people between 3 different Sunday worship services, with community groups all over the city nearly every night of the week.

Amongst all that there’s this seemingly non-stop flow of babies being born (births) and likewise a seemingly non-stop flow of people who are regularly coming to Christ and being baptized (new births) and on top of it all we’ve become a source and a platform for church planting in our city. It’s just awesome what God has done and we feel humbled and privileged and honored to be a part of God’s purposes in bringing glory to Himself in this way.

Each one of you who has been with us shares in that. As Philippians 1:5&27 says, it’s happened through our partnership where we work side by side together for the sake of the Gospel. If you are kind of new here and still sort of considering whether or not to make this your home church…let me just give you this pitch, if you do join us you are joining something that is so exciting and fun to be a part of…where lives are being changed and where we visibly see growth in all kinds of ways.

One of the things that has been a little weird as we’ve come to a place where we’re helping out a lot of brand new churches is that we’ve become in their eyes the “older church.” And a lot of times these fresh, new pastors will often ask me what we did to make things grow as they have. It’s a natural question because starting out from scratch in the beginning is extremely difficult.

The answer I usually give to what we did is something along the lines of, “everything wrong.” Our church has really grown in spite of a lot of weaknesses, failure and mistakes. Jesus really does get the glory or the one who has and is building His church. When guys ask what our ministry philosophy has been, my immediate answer is “Turtle Philosophy.”

You guys know the story of the tortoise and the hare. They’re in a race, but the hare keeps running ahead, jumping around, changing his course, gets caught up in other things…but the tortoise just slow and steady keeps doing the same thing, slowly walking forward and eventually he wins!

I say our ministry philosophy is turtle philosophy because like the tortoise we haven’t really changed anything…we just slowly and surely keep moving forward. Our ministry philosophy is just real simple, “The Word of God does the Work of God.” So we keep preaching the Word and process it together and God does His work.

It’s fitting to recognize today because the next sermon in our “God, You & Our Kids” series we’re in, the one for today, is “The Biblical Thread of Covenant: God Always Works Through Covenant.” So today we’re talking about covenant and we’ll get into it a lot more in a few minutes but a basic feature of covenant is turtle philosophy. It’s an unchanging commitment which does not waiver, weaken or quit.

The reason we’re doing a whole sermon on covenant in this sermon series on children is because it is the term God gives in the Bible when He talks about having a people for Himself and when He promises children to His people. When God does that He couches it all within the concept of “covenant.”

We’re going to look at three things today: the covenant nature, the covenant maker and the covenant keeper and the main text we’re going to use to work through this is Genesis 15. Genesis 15 is this chapter in the Bible which comes along at a point in the story of Genesis when God has begun to enact His plan of having a special righteous people for Himself.

In Genesis 1 and 2 God created the heavens and the earth and He created the first humans, Adam and Eve. He made a covenant with Adam to reward him with life if he obeyed and to punish him with death if he disobeyed. Adam disobeyed and received the sentence of death.

Hundreds of years went by as the earth was populated and no matter how many people were born Adam’s rebellion was found in them all so that as Genesis 6:5 states, “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

So God’s baptizes the earth, cleansing it to start anew, saving just one family to repopulate the earth with, which is His covenant with Noah. Wickedness is still in Noah and his family and their wickedness is passed on to whole new generations of the earth until the time when God comes to Abram.

It’s hundreds of years later by this time and God comes to Abram in Genesis 12, shows up and introduces Himself as the God who is the true God over the other false gods he had been worshipping (Josh 24:2,14) and say He is the God who can and will give him a land, children and divine blessing. Seven different times in a just a few verses God says He is the God who “will” do these things.

In response Abram leaves his land, his nation and his family gods to follow the God who says “I will” and calls that as His name…the to be verb, YHWH (I am or I will be) in Hebrew. But after Abram does this nothing seemingly happens for around 16-20 years. No land, no kids, no blessing.

And then comes Genesis 15. So let’s go ahead and read Genesis 15 together and then we’ll look at three aspects of covenant we see in it.

• Read Genesis 15:1-21
• Pastoral Declaration: This is the Word of the Lord.
• Congregational Response: Thanks Be To God.
• Pastoral Prayer

Alright, the first major thing we’re looking at is “The Covenant Nature.”

I. The Covenant Nature

Now the chapter basically divides into two parts. We’ve got verses 1-6 where we’re introduced to the problem and then we’ve got verses 7-21 where God gives the official answer to the problem in the ancient form of a legal covenant.

Abram tells God the problem in verse 2-3, no kids yet. He’s getting old, might die and if he does his household servant will become his heir. Check it out. Abram says it twice. Verse 2, “I continue childless” and verse 3, “you have given me no offspring.”

God’s response. Verse 4, he states very clearly Abram’s servant will not be his heir and that Abram will have his “very own son.” Then verse 5, God takes Abram outside, shows him all the stars and tells him he will not just have a son but an innumerable amount of family offspring.

Then God signs a covenant with Abram to make the deal official. The word covenant in it’s most basic sense is an agreement between two parties. But covenants back in those days had a very straight forward structure, which would be especially used in land treaty deals with kings or rulers and area lords or suzerains. Normally this covenant structure had seven main parts: (1) An identification of covenant giver (2) A historical introduction (3) The conditions or obligations (4) A written record (5) Witnesses listed (6) Blessings and curses (7) A ceremony sealing it.

What’s really interesting is the covenant here in Genesis 15 follows this historical structure almost exactly.
[1] God introduces Himself as the covenant giver, the I AM (v7).
[2] A history of His action is given as the one who brought Abram out of Ur (v7).
[3] Then God states His obligations or promises concerning the land, judgment, Abram’s offspring and his peaceful death (v13-16).
[4] It’s written down in the record we’re reading today here in our Bibles.
[5] The two witnesses of the fire pot and the flaming torch are identified (v17)
[6] The blessing of the land and it’s boundaries are stated (v.18-21)
[7] The ceremony sealing the covenant takes place when the firepot and torch pass between the cut in half animals (v17).

It’s pretty amazing to see how God condescends, entering Abram’s world and makes a pact with him in the language and cultural custom Abram would have understood. By doing the covenant this way God shows Abram how serious this thing was and is.

And it’s beautifully written. I don’t know if you picked up on it but there’s this cadence to the way it’s written. A story is told, the official covenant treaty parts are identified and as you’re reading through it there’s this mounting rhythm…I am the LORD, I brought you out, your offspring will be, I will bring judgement, you will go in peace…the deal is sealed in this bloody ceremony with animals a fire pot and a torch…and then verse 18 crescendos with this magnificent statement, “On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram.” It’s beautiful and almost breathtaking what God says and does here.

God covenants. The word “covenant” is actually very descriptive. It’s the Hebrew word “berit” which literally means “cut.” It’s actually a reference to the covenant sealing ceremony. When covenants were made they would take an animal or animals and “cut” them in half, throw the two pieces on the ground and then walk between the pieces as a symbolic way of saying, if the terms of the covenant are broken may the one who breaks them be cut in half as these animals. Covenants were serious business.

Now in the Bible, there were other covenants. We already mentioned God’s covenant with Adam and His covenant with Noah. After His covenant with Abraham God makes a covenant with Moses, then with David and then there’s the new covenant with Jesus. What’s interesting is that by the time David and the prophets come along and are writing books of the Bible, a unity and link between all the individual covenants are recognized so that they all get clumped together as one “everlasting covenant.”

For example, Psalm 105:8-11 says this, “He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.’”

And you’ll read and hear this mode of thinking and this phrase “everlasting covenant” all over the Psalms and the prophets. That’s David and the prophets doing systematic theology. They are recognizing that the way God relates or works with man is ever and always through covenant. Covenant really is the language of God.

Charles Spurgeon said that covenant is like the ark which houses all of Scripture. J.I. Packer said covenant is like the ocean all of Scripture is written in. Others have said covenant is the frame which holds the painting of the central message of the Bible. Today I’m saying covenant is like the thread which links all of Scripture together.

Now, I know. Covenant is sort of a weird word. It’s not a word we use in everyday talk is it? I mean lawyers today still use it. United States contract law is actually called a “covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” But we don’t really use the word a whole lot normally in the common life of our culture.

Despite that, what I want us to see today at least in this first point is how big of deal covenant is. What is the nature of covenant? It’s everything. This deal…what happened in Genesis 15 was no small thing. We cannot and will not understand the Bible or its God apart from covenant.

It is especially important for us who are Christians because in verse 6 here when Abram responds to God’s covenant by believing…He is the first person in the Bible, who though he was wicked, gets “counted” by God as righteous. And Romans chapter 4 says we are Abraham’s offspring if we believe in God’s covenant and like Abram will then be counted as righteous in God’s eyes.

Listen to Romans 4:16 & 21-24 say. “16 To all his offspring – not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all…21 (he was) fully convinced that God was able to do what he promised. 22 That is why his faith was ‘counted to him as righteousness.’ 23 But the words ‘it was counted to him’ were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe.”

So what that’s saying is this story we’re looking at today in Genesis 15 is not just a record of some great thing God did a long time ago with a guy named Abram…but it also has a present day, right now connection to who us who believe that God’s covenant back then with Abram extends to us if we receive it.

That’s why it’s so important for us to get the nature of covenant today. Covenant is a big deal. It’s the deal of God. Do you see God like that? As a covenant God? As the God who has come to you and made a pact with you? Do you share the faith of Abram believing in the covenant of God…that He is for you, to make you righteous and give you a blessed future?

Our biggest need as human beings is to know that God as the covenant God. So let’s press in a little further and look at the being of God Himself as “The Covenant Maker.”

II. The Covenant Maker

A minute ago I was talking about how we don’t use the word “covenant” very much in everyday life. What’s funny is though we don’t use the word it’s actually what drives almost every aspect of our lives. Think about it.

Every purchase you ever make is a covenant. It’s an agreement with another party to give a certain amount of money in exchange for a product or a service.

Every job you ever work is a covenant. It’s an agreement to render time and skills applied in exchange for a certain wage.

If you own property like land or a house you have to sign and initial pages and pages of what’s called the “Closing Documents” where you covenant to pay a mortgage in order to become the owner of that property.

If you’re married, you stand…hopefully before a real pastor and not just a civil judge or some phony wannabe who buys an ordination online for $15…sorry, just got back from a wedding where that’s what the “minister” did and it made my blood boil. Anyway, if you’re married, on your wedding day you made a covenant with your spouse, making certain vows and then you sealed it with a kiss and sex on the honeymoon.

You see covenants are a good thing. Covenants are not only the language of God but they’re our language. Covenants are the framework through which we live our lives.

Now think about this. In almost every covenant we make, we make them in order to get something. There’s an exchange. One person does one thing, the other person does another and then you get your desired result. We make covenants to advance ourselves, to make our lives better or happier. Right?

Okay…hold that thought and now let’s go look at God and the arrangement of His covenant, the covenant he makes here in Genesis 15.

First, look at who initiates the covenant. Verse 1, “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram.” After taking 318 of his men and going to war to rescue his nephew and then going to see God’s priest to worship and give thanks…that’s what happens in Genesis 14. After that…the LORD God comes to Abram. So God initiates the conversation.

Second, look at what God says about Himself to Abram in verse 1. He says, “I am your shield” and “your reward shall be very great.” Meredith Kline in his book “Kingdom Prologue” says these words are kingly words…that God is coming to Abram here as the king of heaven and earth exercising His sovereign rights to offer a royal grant.

The shield, is a symbol of the protection of the king. The reward, is a symbol of the riches of the king. So God comes in covenant to give His protection and His riches. Which brings us to the next thing.

A third mark of God the covenant maker…riches are His to give. God owns the land and it’s His to grant to those He desires. Look at verse 18-21. Notice God lists the lands which all these different groups think they own. But they don’t. God does. He is the one who has given it to them and it is His to give to another if He chooses. And what He does is promise it to Abram.

As a sidenote, the geographical description given of the land there in verse 18 parallels the description of Eden in Genesis 1 which gives us a hint about the everlasting or eternal perspective of this covenant when it is completely fulfilled. Genesis 15 actually finds its full fulfillment in Revelation 22 in the garden city of Eden remade. You can check that out later.

Here’s the fourth thing about the God of this covenant. It’s something very strange you can almost miss. Remember a minute ago when we talked about the nature of covenants and how they always involve two parties with each person doing something and there being an exchange? When you read through this covenant in Genesis 15 what does Abram do? What’s his end of the deal in the covenant?

Nothing. There’s nothing there. He does nothing. God does it all. God comes to Abram. God brought Abram out of Ur. God promises the land. God promises offspring. God promises peace. Abram promises nothing. And then when it’s time to seal the covenant with the special ceremony where they both pass between the cut in half animal pieces…God’s the only one who passes through them. Not Abram. In this covenant, God is the one who does everything. He does all the promising and all the work. God does it all.

And that’s what’s so amazing about our covenant God. He is generous and good and He commits Himself to those whom He sets His grace upon…and He does it all.

God is the hero of Genesis 15 because He is the covenant maker. Oh how we need to see and know God and the one who makes the covenant with us…not us with God. So much of the time we so easily want to go to God and make deals with Him.

We go to Him and say “God, if you’ll do this thing for me I’ll do this, this and this.” And deep down we know we probably won’t even be able to keep up our end of the deal. What you need to know today is that the covenant God does not work like that.

If you know the covenant God then He’s the God who says I will do this, this and this for you regardless of how you perform for me…and God always keeps up His end of the deal.

Have you been trying to make deals with God lately? Stop. Don’t do it. For those who believe and have God as their God He says, “I am your shield”, “I am your reward”, “I count you righteous.” He does this so we will not have fear…He is our shield. He does this so we will not be poor…He is our reward. He does this so we will not be unrighteous…He is our righteousness.

Martin Luther, the great pastor and reformer of the 16th century said this about this chapter. “Abraham was justified prior to the giving of the Law, prior to doing any works…the divine promise (here) is the chief thing…faith stretches forth its hand and lays hold of what God has promised.” Today, the call of Genesis 15 upon us is to stretch forth our hands of faith and to lay hold of God’s promise.

God’s promise is good. Really good. In order for us to see just how good, we’ve got one last point for this morning, “The Covenant Keeper.”

III. The Covenant Keeper

Let’s go back to the story here. God comes to Abram with the covenant right? In verse 9 God tells Abram to get the animals and cut them in half. So Abram knows what’s coming? He’d probably made covenants like this before. Abram has responded in faith to God and verse 10 says it followed through to his actions…he went and got the animals and cut ‘em in half.

But then notice what happened in verses 11 and 12. The covenant ceremony is all set up and Abram is just waiting for God to show up. But God isn’t coming. Time is passing by. Verse 11 says birds of prey are swooping down trying to eat the carcasses and Abram’s trying to fight them off.

Finally, verse 12 it gets dark. Still no God yet. Abram grows weary. He gets weak and tired and cannot protect the elements anymore. He cannot keep watch and falls asleep. And the tone of the text here is not good. Look what it says, “behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.” That sounds like sin on Abram’s part.

Then in verses 13-16 when God does show up a lot of what He says is not good. He says Abram’s offspring will become slaves for 400 years and He talks about judgment for iniquity.

Joel Beeke in his book, “Parenting by God’s Promise: How To Raise Children in the Covenant of Grace” commenting on this says this shows our inability to keep the covenant and especially as parents it shows our inability to father or mother our children as we ought. Here’s what he says,

“When God delays fulfilling His promises, we are prone to slacken our watchfulness. Our prayers lose their power; we become less active in using the means of grace. We become weary in seeking, weary of fighting against enemies, weary even of praying. Do you ever feel that way? You have tried and tried, and at night, when you put your head on the pillow, you begin to weep. You’ve been striving, trusting, and hoping for so long, and you are so tired. Your spouse is tired. You fall asleep, exhausted. Where is the covenant keeping God?”

I know those nights too well. But here’s what Beeke says next.

“Abram’s sleep was no ordinary sleep…The same language is used of the kind of sleep into which Adam fell when the Lord opened his side and formed Even from one of his ribs. God caused the deep sleep to fall on Abram…(and then) came while Abram slept, showing that the fulfillment of the covenant promises did not depend on Abram, who was best by failures and weaknesses as a father.”

You see the truth is there’s no way we could keep the covenant so God keeps it for us. And He cannot fail. My favorite part of this entire chapter is when God passes between the cut in half carcasses. Smoke and fire throughout Scripture are always symbols of God’s presence…heat and light. So it’s God passing through the covenant cuts. Think about what that means. Think about what God is saying about Himself in doing that.

God is saying I WILL DO THIS or may I be cut in half. But can God be cut in half? No. He’s the everlasting, immutable, all powerful God. He can’t be cut in half.

Do you see what a rock solid promise God makes here? It’s amazing.

But here’s the thing. Not only can we not keep the covenant, we are also covenant breakers. You see this covenant, the covenant God brings to Abram gets called by theologians as “the covenant of grace” because it’s God doing all the work, despite sinfulness, counting Abram and offspring like him righteous on the basis of faith.

The reason why this covenant the covenant of grace is so good is because everyone already knows, understands and lives under another covenant…the covenant of works. The is the one first given to Adam where we know there are things we ought to do in order to love and obey God.

We as a human race are inescapably moral people. We’re not good at being moral but we can’t get away from it. When we’re wronged we want justice. When we’re wrong we most often deny or try and escape it. We know the covenant of works whether we call it that or not.

The Westminster Catechism says the covenant of works is a promise of God to reward man with life if he obeys and to punish him with death if he disobeys. We’ve all broken the covenant of works. We’ve all been disobedient. Done things we know we ought not to…acted out of a heart that does not love and honor God but instead has disregard for His law and His being.

So here’s the problem. How can God give this covenant of grace when we stand condemned under the covenant of works? Do you get the problem? God’s covenant in Genesis 15 is awesome. God does all the work and He simply counts us righteous and gives us shield from hell and reward of eternal life.

The answer to the problem is what Jesus calls, “The New Covenant” in his blood. Theologians have called it “The Covenant of Redemption.”

There’s two parts to Jesus’ “New Covenant.” One is His life and one is His death. When Jesus speaks of the New Covenant it’s toward the end of His life at the well known “last supper.”

He takes a piece of bread and says it’s His body given for us. In Jesus, God came into the world taking on a human body and lived a perfect life…never breaking the covenant of works as Adam and everyone after him has done.

Then Jesus takes a cup of wine, looks forward in time 24 hours to his death on the cross and says it’s the new covenant in His blood, wherein He offers up His body as a sacrifice fulfilling and paying the price for all who have broken God’s covenant.

By calling it the new covenant Jesus makes a monumental claim. In calling it the “new” covenant he declares all previous the covenants fulfilled by Himself. The covenant of works and the covenant of grace.

In fact, you may not know this but the terms “Old Testament” and “New Testament” are actually covenant words. The word “Testament” was carried over from the Latin “testamentum” which means, “covenant.” So really when we call all the books of the Bible before Jesus the “Old Testament” we’re really calling them the “Old Covenant.” And likewise when we call all the books of the Bible after Jesus the “New Testament” we’re calling them the “New Covenant.”

Here’s the connecting point. In Genesis 15 animals we’re cut in half with their blood spilled so that the covenant could be sealed. God cannot be cut in half, but in Jesus He allowed Himself to be cut up and crucified, spilling His blood so that He might grant grace to all who believe.

And just as fire and light passed through the elements in the covenant ceremony of Genesis 15 so the fire of God’s judgment came down on Christ on the cross so that His light might shine from that place into the hearts all who believe.

How do we get counted righteous? How do we get the grace covenant? By the one who lived the life we failed and who died an eternal death for us in our place? We get it from The Redeemer. Here’s the answer of Romans 4:23-24 “The words ‘it was counted to him’ were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord.”

Hear the words of the covenant today friends. Genesis 15 was not written down just for Abram but for you and I so that we too might be counted righteous. And the way we are counted righteous is by believing that Jesus died on the cross and rose again for our sin…a new covenant in His own blood.

Do you believe? Or are you still caught up in your own works trying to make deals with God? Cast yourself upon the mercy of Christ. His covenant is better than any one you can come up with. Believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved.

Well, let’s conclude.

Conclusion

The reason why it was so important for us today to do a whole sermon on covenant is because it’s the backbone of family. God is a God who works in and through family, who is committed to working from generation to generation.

That’s what God says about this covenant of His. In Genesis 17:7 He says, “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.” In Acts 2:39 He says, “The promise is for you and for your children.” And in 1 Corinthians 7:14 the children of Christian parents are rightly recognized as covenant children.

So I wanted us to know first that for those of us who have been adopted into God’s family where we get God as our father…the way get Him as our father is by covenant. And second I wanted us to know that the foundation upon which we are to parent children is by covenant.

We’ll unpack that more in the weeks to come but for now it’s this thought…Abraham was looking to offspring. His biggest job was to pass on the covenant to offspring. And I believe that’s what we’re to look to. To generations and generations of physical and spiritual offspring who we pass the covenant on to.

I want to look to my children as grown parents with own little ones and I want to see them worrying about their kids and whether or not they will love God and follow Jesus. And I want to be able to sit down with my daughters and maybe one day a son who has had some of those long exhausting nights and I want to be able to say, “My son, my daughter, as you worry now about these little children, so I once worried about you. But the God of the covenant will help you through, as He helped me. He is faithful (Joel Beeke’s words in “Parenting By God’s Promises”).”

God has shown Himself faithful and so good by giving us His Son. So today as we respond to the message of the Gospel by coming to God’s table and receiving the elements of His covenant…come and remember the covenant nature, the covenant maker and the covenant keeper.

The covenant nature is one of words. God is a God who has come to us and spoken covenant words to us saying, “I will surely do this for you.” Trust Him and take Him at His Word.

The covenant maker is the one initiates with us, the one who promises to be our shield and promises the reward of eternal life with Him in His land and He is the one who does all the work for us on our behalf. Have God as your shield and your reward.

The covenant keeper is the one who was cut in half on a cross so we wouldn’t have to be. Put your faith in Jesus as savior for breaking God’s covenant. Don’t trust in any of your ability to uphold a covenant with God. He upheld it for you with His life, death and resurrection. Believe on Jesus. Be counted righteous. Receive the covenant of grace.

Let’s pray.

Here’s the words of our Lord Jesus: “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me…This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” Come. Eat and drink the sacred symbols of the covenant God has given to us.

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By admin – May 4, 2013

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The Biblical Role of Covenant and Church: God Always Expects Children To Grow Up In Church

How Spanking Can Be Both Biblical & Unbiblical

The Biblical Call of Covenant: God Expects Parents to Give God to Their Children

The Biblical Promise Of Covenant: God Always Provides What He Commands

The Biblical Thread Of Covenant: God Always Works Through Covenant

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About Duane M. Smets

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