Christ Church

The Glory of Parenthood
Christ Church on June 5, 2022
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Hidden from the Wise, Revealed to Babes

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THE TEXT

Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum,who[a] are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

25 At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. 26 Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 27 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am[b]gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:20–30).

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Permit the Children

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INTRODUCTION

This is a remarkable period in the history of our congregation. We have never seen growth like this before, and all of us are getting used to the new situation. Of course, those of you who have moved across the country to join us—welcome. In one sense you are refugees, but in a more fundamental sense, you are reinforcements. This is a new community for you, a new setting, a new set of friends, the works. Your experience of church is very different from what it was. But the same thing is true of all you old-timers. You are attending a very different church also.

Believe it or not, there are some things about Christ Church that take some getting used to. Some of them are trivial, and some of them are practices that we consider to be very important. Consider this message as an orientation to one of our customs that we believe to be crucial, and it is the one that has to do with the relationship of our children to the congregation.

THE TEXT

“And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them” (Mark 10:13–16; cf. Matt. 19:13-15; Luke 18: 15-17).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This is a famous incident, recorded in all three of the synoptic gospels. Young children were brought to Jesus, so that He might “touch” them. What touching meant to Jesus is seen in how He responded. He took the children into His arms, placed His hands on them, and blessed them (v. 16). In Matthew, He laid hands on them (Matt. 19:15). In the Luke account, we see that coming to Jesus can be accomplished when someone carries you there because the word used of the children there is brephos, the word for infants. In all three accounts, the disciples were busy grown-ups and rebuked those who brought the children. “The Rabbi is a very busy man . . .” In the Mark account, it says that Jesus was greatly displeased with this. If you want to get that reaction from Christ, then try to get in between Him and a child being brought to Him. In all three accounts, Jesus requires us to allow the children to be brought to Him. The reason He gives is that “of such is the kingdom of God” (v. 14). He does not say anything like “children are a theology-free zone.” And in addition to all that, He teaches us that children do not have to become more like adults to come, but rather that adults need to become more like children in order to enter the kingdom (v. 15). Like the disciples in the story, we often get this backwards.

SOME QUICK BACKGROUND

You will have noticed that our children gather to worship the Lord together with the rest of us. We all gather together. Your children are most welcome, fidgets and all. On those occasions when you need to deal with any moral disorder that broke out in your row, then please feel free to escort your child outside. That is the sort of thing that we take in stride, and pretty much everyone here has been in your shoes.

The keys of the kingdom are held by the elders of the church, and not by the fathers. It is the responsibility of our session of elders to guard the purity of the Word and the integrity of the sacraments. If your child is baptized, he is welcome to come to the Table together with the rest of us. If your baptized child is three months old and conked out in the car seat, don’t feel like you have to wake him up for the Supper. But when he is on your lap, tracking with the service, and he notices the tray going by and wants to partake, please don’t restrain him. But at the same time, because this is not a unilateral family decision, please let your parish elder know that your child is now partaking. And if you have a child who is not baptized, but who believes in Jesus, he is still welcome to the Table with us—but he should be baptized first. He is welcome to sit at table with us, but the way to the dining room table is through the front door—which is baptism.

OUR BAPTISMAL COOPERATION AGREEMENT

The Confession of Faith for Christ Church is the Westminster Confession, but in addition to that we have what we call a baptismal cooperation agreement, which stipulates an allowed exception. In other words, for about 25 years we have successfully navigated and allowed for our differences on baptism, those differences being Presbyterian and Baptist. But at the same time, we have also cultivated a church community that is a welcoming place for the children. This issue is related to the doctrine of baptism, but it is not identical with it. One of the things we want to insist on is that all of you join with us in welcoming the children.

Some of you newcomers come from generic Baptist backgrounds, and others from a more defined Reformed Baptist background. You are most welcome here, but to get straight to the point, so are your kids. We can accommodate differences on baptism, but we don’t want to accommodate ungodly extrapolations from Baptist premises, or from Presbyterian premises, for that matter. An example of the latter would be, “Yes, he is serving 5 to 10 for armed robbery, but he is a good boy. He was baptized once, and we are hopeful that something good will kick in sometime.” An example of the former would be, “Daddy, I love Jesus . . .” “Let us be the judge of that, kid. Don’t you remember that lie you told three years ago?”

COME, AND WELCOME, TO JESUS CHRIST

This is not a religion club or a theology society that meets on Sundays. We are the body of Christ, and so coming to worship the Father here means that we are coming to and through Christ. We come to the Father in the power of the Spirit, traveling the road who is Christ. We are traveling Christ the Way all together. And as we travel in that way, we want to take great care not to place a stumbling block in the road for any of our little ones.

“And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea” (Mark 9:42).

Quite apart from the doctrine of baptism itself, it is therefore a baseline assumption for our congregation here that it would be far better for us to admit a false professor to our membership than it would be to exclude a true brother. This is an assumption that we want to see cultivated throughout the congregation—because we don’t want Christ to be greatly displeased with us.

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Kingly Obedience (Ascension 2021)

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INTRODUCTION

The progress of the gospel throughout the world is certainly going to have the effect of making your neighborhood a lot nicer, but that should not be considered as the extent of it. We look forward to the time when every son of Israel is at peace under his own fig tree, but there are also larger geopolitical issues involved. And those issues are directly related to what we are celebrating on this Ascension Sunday.

THE TEXTS

“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh” (Matt. 2:11).

“And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it” (Rev. 21:24–26).

“Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers; They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me” (Is. 49:23, NKJV).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXTS

Our first text is one we are accustomed to refer to in our Christmas celebrations because the story is given to us in the narrative of Christ’s birth at Bethlehem. But the story is also proleptic or anticipatory. What August did unwittingly, what Herod rebelled against doing, these rulers from the east did gladly, and that was to serve the interests of the holy family. These men worshiped the Lord, and they brought gifts to Him. That is what all the kings of the earth are summoned to do (Ps. 2:12), and which all will eventually do. Revelation tells us that leaves from the trees of life will be made readily available for the healing of the nations, and the New Jerusalem, which is the Christian church, will provide light for the nations to live by. The nations, and their kings, will bring their glory and honor into the Church. What the devil offered to Christ on that very high mountain as a bribe (Matt. 4:8) is instead brought into His Church as bounden tribute. This all happens when the Gentile nations bring sons of God in their arms and carry daughters of God on their shoulders. They will support the Church, not as lords over the Church, but as sons and daughters of the church themselves. Just as Jacob bowed down to Joseph, so also the mighty ones of the earth will acknowledge the wisdom of God resident in the Church, and will do so as they bow down.

A VOICE OF AUTHORITY

But before the kings of the earth will recognize the great authority that has been bestowed on the Church, something else must come first. The rulers of the Church will have to recognize it first, and they will have to repent of acting so embarrassed. The Church is not a social club with an interest in theological topics, in which we dabble during our Sunday meetings. Rather the Church is a militant army that makes the gates of Hades tremble as though they were the gates of Jericho.

There is something in the carriage of this kind of authority that makes carnal rulers shake, even when it appears that they are holding all the cards. “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid” (John 19:80). Why on earth would Pilate be afraid?

MIGHTY THROUGH GOD

A robust eschatology encompasses all of history. The “end times” are the last chapter in the story, and if you understand the last chapter, you understand the whole book. And as God is the author of the entire story, and because we are His friends, He has invited us to read His story in manuscript, well before final publication.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled” (2 Cor. 10:3–6).

These words were written, and understood, and acted on, by the apostle Paul, who lived two thousand years ago. That being the case, he was clearly playing the long game. And because he was playing the long game two thousand years ago, we have no business refusing to play that same long game. Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:10-11). The earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14).

So as God gives opportunity, and we stand before rulers and kings, we should be bold to declare what the magi in Bethlehem saw so clearly. We should be willing to echo what Paul said to Agrippa.

“For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds” (Acts 26:26–29).

Where does such authority come from? It comes from the recognition that the Christ who was crucified was the same Christ who was raised, and the Christ who was raised is the same Christ who has ascended to the right hand of the Father— where He has been given blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, amen (Rev. 7:12).

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I Adjure You by the Living God (Good Friday 2021)

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The story of our Lord’s passion is a story that is saturated in ironies. One of those ironies is found in how the high priest got Jesus to speak at His trial, and what the Lord included in His answer. Just as Jesus made the good confession before Pilate (1 Tim. 6:13), so also He spoke the truth before Caiaphas—making the good confession there also.

And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death. Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee? (Mt. 26:62–68).

This remarkable exchange will repay careful attention, and is almost a call and response. An adversarial call and response, to be sure, but still. Or perhaps it was more like parry and thrust.

“I call upon you in the name of the living God.”

“I will answer you from the throne of the living God.”

The high priest Caiaphas was a shrewd and hard-edged politician. When he speaks to Christ here, he uses the language of his people from ancient times and says, “I adjure you by the living God . . . are you the Christ? The Son of God?” And Christ’s response is in effect “you have said it.”

And He follows this up immediately by saying what amounts to “you yourself will see the living God.” You will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of Heaven—and this description is taken from the seventh chapter of Daniel. But it is not referring to the Final Coming of Christ to earth. Rather this is the moment when the one like a son of man is ushered into the presence of the Ancient of Days, where a universal kingdom is then bestowed on Him.

And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Dan. 7:14).

But not to belabor the obvious, in order for a dominion to be an everlasting dominion, in order for the kingdom to be one that will not be destroyed, the king over that dominion must be a king who is alive. And He must be a king who is alive forevermore. And if He is alive, seated at the right hand of power, at the right hand of the Ancient of Days, this means that He is the Son of the living God. He is the living God. I hope you can begin to see why Caiaphas, given his premises, was compelled to tear his robe.

“I adjure you by the living God . . .”

“I am the living God . . .”

When Caiaphas adjured Christ by the living God, he was drawing on a long line of examples in the Old Testament. Every time the phrase living God is used there, the word for God is El, or Elah, or Elohim. This is the Creator God, this is God Almighty—this is the name for God that is used in the first sentence of the Bible. Further, this is the name that Christ used in His cry of dereliction from the cross—“Eloi, Eloi . . .”

The Sanhedrin had, in all their carnal wisdom, maneuvered themselves into the position where it turned out that they had God Almighty on their hands. They had Jehovah incarnate in custody. Confronted with such holiness, they were filled with hatred and bitterness and malice and spite, and could not help themselves. The trial was a sham and a pretense. They wanted it to look judicious and wise and dignified and legal, but they were conducting their illegal trial in the middle of the night. And after the verdict was rendered, they could not keep the bile from spilling out—they spit on Him, they buffeted Him, they slapped Him with their hands.

With the truth in front of them, they told their lies. With the resurrection and the life standing before them, they rendered the verdict of death. With Christ the Way laid out before them, they utterly refused to even consider that road. With everlasting life in front of them, they cried out, “death, death, death.”

So what is the spirit of Hell? Confronted with life everlasting, the only thing that Hell wants to do with such life is crucify it. This is the mystery of lawlessness.

How did the apostle Peter put it?

But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses (Acts 3:14–15).

The thing that made the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus necessary was our sin, but because of the depths of the wisdom of God, and the work of the Spirit here with us now, we are enabled to see the gospel ironies that deal efficaciously with us and our sins. When Jesus, the life of the world, was brought bound before the Sanhedrin, that life was the aroma of death to them. And when we come, bound prisoners to the judgment seat of the crucifixion, that death is our everlasting life. We look at that twisted body on the cross, something marvelous happens. He was hanging there because our representatives in the Sanhedrin had cried out, “death to Him—death, death, death.” And we look, and the only thing we can think to say is “life from Him—life, life, life.”

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.

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