Christ Church

Child Communion and the Keys (Part 2)

Gary Stedman on

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Introduction

As you are bringing your children up in the covenant, your operating assumption ought to be that your God is their God, and that they are, adjusting for levels of maturity, faithful covenant members. Your attitude should not be that of assuming that “your sweet baby” must be converted despite a sullenness that ascends to the skies, and your attitude should not be one of chronic suspicion either. Rather, you should “trust but verify.” But how do we verify?

The Text

“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death” (1 Jn. 3:14).

Summary of the Text

The apostle John does not assume that we are trying to figure out who was baptized and who not. That is too easy. They remembered when those baptisms occurred—these were first generation Christians after all. The tests for assurance of salvation are given to us so that we could know who had passed from death to life among those who are professing Christians. This has been a problem from the very first—I don’t doubt that it began at Pentecost.

There are two things to mark here. Passing from death to life is one of them, and knowing that you have is the other. The first indicator here is that of love for your fellow Christians. Love is the mark of a real Christian.

Important Caution

When you talk about assurance of salvation, there is always the Christian with a tender conscience, ever eager for reasons to doubt that he is saved. But that is not what we are doing here. The contrast is being loving and hating, not between loving as much you should and not loving as much as you should have. We are not contrasting playing the piano superbly and playing it like a hack musician, but rather playing the piano and playing a trash can lid with a wooden stick. We are not contrasting big red apples and smaller red apples, but rather apples and road apples.

The works of the flesh are manifest (Gal. 5:19ff). Look at the sorts of things that the New Testament lists as being inconsistent with inheriting the kingdom of heaven (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5). You will not find on these lists anything about how many times this week you missed your Bible reading.

A Checklist, Gingerly Held

Here is a checklist which should not be treated as a checklist, if you know what I mean. The center of all assurance means looking to Christ, not yourself. But how can you know you are looking to Him, and not just striking a pose for everybody?

  • Loveforthebrothers:Aswesawinourtext(1Jn.3:14),realChristiansloveotherreal Christians. Before salvation, Christians were insufferable; afterwards, they somehow became a delight. For those growing up in the covenant, there should be a real attraction for real Christians.
  • Obediencestartstohappen:“Andherebywedoknowthatweknowhim,ifwekeephis commandments” (1 Jn. 2:3). Note that our salvation is not based on obedience, but our assurance should be. For those growing up in the covenant, there should be an orientation to obedience, mediated through obedience to parents.
  • What happens when we disobey: “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons” (Heb. 12:7-8). The previous point is not a perfectionistic one. We all fail and fall. But what happens when we do? For those growing up in the covenant, there is a pattern of putting things right because God spanks you.
  • Understanding of spiritual things: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14; cf. 1 Cor. 1:18). There is a certain upside-down-ness to the way God does things. Christians get it. For those growing up in the covenant,
  • Holding fast to the truth: “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God” (1 Jn. 4:15). The Christian faith has a clear center of dogma, and Christians hold to it. For those growing up in the covenant, there is a desire to understand so that you can hold to it faithfully.
  • The presence of the Holy Spirit: “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit” (1 Jn. 4:13). When the Spirit is given, He causes us to cry out, “Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15-16; Gal. 4:6-7). For those growing up in the covenant, this is the gift that enables you to evaluate this list without a counterproductive form of navel gazing. This is all about relationship. 

    What is the Direction?

    When a child is baptized, one of the things we do as a congregation is promise to assist the parents in the Christian nurture of their child. We do not promise to do this only so long as the parents are totally not defensive about it.

  • Although “parent” is not an office in the church, the fact that we are coming together as families means that parents are usually the ones called to speak the words of the gospel to their children as we administer the Supper.
  • Your children can be included as soon as they are tracking in the service—and you can tell this by when they start to notice that they are being excluded.
  • As your children grow up, you will probably have (early on) some communion flip out stories —when your child has to be taken outside for some discipline in the middle of the observance. We don’t do this with grown-ups, but a lot of communion services would probably be greatly improved if some of the adults got spanks.
  • If a child is “old enough to know better,” and the attitude is still rebellious or sullen, or if their demeanor in church is fine, but they are living wildly, then parents (or their friends) should call for pastoral help from the elders.

A godly church should never have discipline on a hair trigger. But if we are going to commune our children, it is because we believe the promises, and we want them to walk with God all the days of their lives.

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Child Communion and the Keys (Part 1)

Gary Stedman on

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Introduction

As anyone who has worshiped with us can see, it is our practice to include our baptized children with us in our celebration of the Lord’s Supper. We do not want to be superstitious about it, as though the elements of bread and wine were magic, but it is a routine practice for us to begin including children in the Supper at a pretty tender age. This is what we mean by child communion. What is meant by “the keys?” This refers to the authority of the church in discipline. It is not possible to talk about communication of the elements without also talking about excommunication (Matt. 16:19). So how should we relate these issues? It is necessary to take the right kind of great caution.

The Text

“Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted” (1 Cor. 10:1-6).

Summary of the Text

The Corinthian Gentiles had begun to put on airs, over against the Jews. “We are baptized. We have spiritual drink. We have spiritual food.” So did the Israelites in the wilderness, Paul says, and look what happened to them. The nation of Israel passed through the cloud and the sea (v. 1), which Paul identifies as their baptism (v. 2). Not only did they have that monumental baptismal experience, they also ate spiritual food (v. 3), referring to the manna, bread from Heaven. In addition to that, all of them drank from the Rock that traveled with them, and that Rock was Christ Himself (v. 4). But if the Israelites were tempted to gloat in these spiritual privileges, they ought not to have. God was not pleased with many of them, and they were overthrown in the wilderness (v. 5). These things were written down, Paul says, to provide an example for new covenant Christians (v. 6), that we not fall into lust as they did.

The key thing to take away here is the fact that modern Christians often draw old covenant/new covenant contrasts at just the place where the New Testament demands that we draw parallels. These things happened to them as examples for us.

Clearing Some Debris

There are two things to keep in the forefront of our minds as we reflect on our inclusion of children in the Supper. First, we do not do it because it is “cute,” or “endearing.” If children are included for sentimental reasons, then if discipline ever becomes necessary, a number of people won’t want to do it . . . for those same sentimental reasons. We cannot have it both ways—if we object to discipline because “he is too young,” then we need to object to the communication of the elements for the same reason.

Secondly, we do not include our children through a misguided tribalism. The church holds the power of the keys, and not the patriarch of the family. The father has a key shepherding role to play, working with the elders, but he is not the church.

In stating these caveats, we should acknowledge that in some ways, child communion was an easy sell in some quarters for all the wrong reasons. But our thinking should be covenantal—not sentimental, and not familialist.

The Holy Spirit Does Not Need a Manager

When Jesus teaches us about the importance of the new birth, He does so by telling us that the Holy Spirit comes and goes as He pleases (John 3:8). We cannot bottle Him. We cannot anchor Him to the waters of baptism, or to the bread and wine, or to the Red Sea, or to the manna, or to the Rock. He is sovereign over us, not the other way around.

So our hunt for “badges” of the new birth usually gravitates to things we can manipulate or control— whether they are biblical things like baptism and the Lord’s Supper, or extra-biblical things, like throwing pine cones in the fire the last night of youth camp. We want things we can count—we want to put a turnstile on the gates of the kingdom with an automatic clicker in it.

Light Lights Up

The scriptural response to this does not flatter us. The differences between the converted and unconverted are not subtle. It is the difference between light and dark. It is the difference between righteousness and unrighteousness (John 3:19). It is the difference between clean and filthy (1 Thess. 4:7). It is the difference between love and hate (1 Jn. 3:12-14). The works of the flesh are manifest, Paul says (Gal. 5:19). People who live that way won’t inherit the kingdom (Gal. 5:21). Don’t over- engineer this. When it comes to assurance of salvation, we do not need to know what time the sun rose to know that it is up.

You never get an apple crop as the result of throwing a lever in the control room. Fruit doesn’t work this way. And the presence of the Spirit for blessing is indicated by gracious fruit (Gal. 5:22-23)—not by His gifts (1 Cor. 1:7; 1 Cor. 3:1), not by His sacraments (1 Cor. 10:1-6), not by doctrinal prowess (1 Cor. 13:2), and not by external good deeds (1 Cor. 13:3). But we tend to want a lever, any lever, because we think that our hands must be able to reach it.

Vessels of Wrath, Vessels of Mercy

The Bible teaches that all of our children are by nature objects of wrath (Eph. 2:3). They, just like us, have descended from Adam. In order for anyone to be saved, our children included, they must be transferred from one human race to another. The perennial temptation is for us to try to effect this transfer, instead of resorting to the gospel of Christ, and waiting upon Him. We come to the gospel, and we do so in order to hear it, believe it, wash with it, taste it, swallow it. It is not the outside of the thing, obviously. But neither is it faith to throw away all these means that God has so graciously provided.

What would happen to a man who ate the manna without faith? He would die in the desert. What would happen to a hyper-evangelical Israelite, who refused the manna because he just wanted to treasure up spiritual manna in his heart? Well, he would die too.

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Singing by Faith Alone

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Sing a New Song (v. 1-5)

David begins here with an exhortation (v. 1-3) for us to rejoice in the Lord and to praise him with music, with singing and shouting. He then gives us the reason for this exhortation (v. 4-5) – we should praise God because he is upright, because his work is true, righteous, and full of goodness.

The Works of the Lord (v. 6-19)

We praise God for his character, his attributes. But we don’t learn about these by reflecting on them in the abstract. We come to know about God’s character by studying what he has done. We know God through his works. David directs our attention to two key works of God – creation and salvation.

Creation (v. 6-12)

David looks at God’s power in creation and concludes that “all his work is done in truth” and that “the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”The triune God is our maker, creating and upholding all things by the power of his Word and the strength of his Spirit. This is why our doctrine of creation is so important. Creation is the proof of God’s authority, proof of the authority of his Word and the power of his Spirit. The argument about six day creation is not just about the exegesis, it is about the ever-present, sovereign authority of God in our everyday lives. Because he is the creator, he is the continuing sustainer of all things. This means that all peoples must fear him.

Salvation (v. 13-19)

David now describes how a king, no matter how mighty his army is, cannot stand against God and his plans. The power of a horse in battle might be awesome, but it is no match for the power of the Lord. This section is pointing back to Israel’s deliverance from Egypt at the Red Sea crossing. In fact, even when he was describing creation, he did so in a way that would remind the Israelites of the victory at the Red Sea (v. 7). And God’s deliverance in the Exodus is meant to be a picture of our ultimate salvation.

The church has long understood creation and redemption to be inherently connected and to be the two places in which we most clearly see God’s character. The church father Athanasius argued that because God created the world by the power of his Word, it was only appropriate then that he redeem us by the power of his Word. So, as David teaches us, we praise God and we fear him for his creation and for his redemption.

Mercy, Hope, and Singing

However, this Psalm began as an exhortation to the “righteous” and “upright.” Unfortunately, if we spend any time actually meditating on the greatness of God’s character as revealed in his creation and salvation, we will find it difficult to conclude that we are in this category. How can we sing this new song? But if we look again at God’s work, it will become clear to us. God created ex nihilo. God’s triumph comes not from the strength of horses. This is another way that creation and salvation are connected (2 Cor. 4:6). When God acts, he acts unilaterally, supplying all that is needed for the action. Moses sang about this when he saw God’s deliverance (Ex. 15:1-2). And Isaiah foresaw when this would be fully accomplished in the Messiah (Is. 12:1-2).

Moses sang, not because he was upright, but because he saw the uprightness of God in his actions. And as he sang, God became Moses’ salvation. There is a pun in the Hebrew of Ps. 33, between verses 3 and 4. “Sing to him a new song. . .” “For the word of the Lord is upright. . .” Singing and uprightness are rhymed with one another. Our singing is an expression of our trust in the Lord, a trust inspired by our understanding of God’s work as Creator and Redeemer. And by this faith we receive the uprightness of the Lord. In other words, we sing by faith alone.

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Post Tenebras Lux

Christ Church on

Introduction

The title of this message is a phrase that has been used to describe the great work of the Spirit in the Reformation, and that Latin phrase means “after darkness, light.” It is the purpose of this sermon to focus on one particular manifestation of that transformation, which was the musical transformation which occurred. Post silentium cantus. After silence, song.

The Texts

“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:18-20).

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col. 3:16).

Summary of the Text

We too often assume that this phrase “with the Spirit” means that the Holy Spirit is the substance with which we are filled. A better rendition of this would be “by the Spirit,” meaning that the Holy Spirit is the agent who does the filling, not the substance with which we are filled. But if that is the case, then what are we to be filled with. The answer to this comes from the parallel passage in Colossians, which tells us that it is the word of Christ. Putting this together, we are to be filled with the word of Christ, an action performed by the Holy Spirit, and this has certain observable results which follow. What are they?

The command is to be filled with the word of Christ by the Spirit, and then this command is followed by a series of participles—speaking, teaching, admonishing, singing, making melody, giving thanks, and submitting. The structure would be something like this: Cook the turkey (imperative), keeping the oven at 350 degrees, basting as necessary, and removing when done. The imperative tells you what is to be done, and the participles describe the doing. In this case, we are told to be indwelt by the word, and to allow the Spirit to accomplish this. How do we allow the Spirit to accomplish t his? The answer is not limited to music, but the answer certainly begins with music.

Dwell in You Richly

The word of Christ is something that in its very nature is potent and pervasive. It will dwell in us richly unless we take active steps to prevent it from doing so. In order to remain unaffected, we have to develop some countermeasures, some workarounds, to keep God from messing with our lives. It is unfortunate, but many professing Christians do just this—and the opposite effect happens. That would be the real day the music dies.

The illustration may seem irreverent, but it is not intended that way. Picture the word of Christ in your life as a powerful and aromatic cheese. A workaround would be to wrap it in tin foil and put it in the back of your freezer. It is in your house, but it is not in your house richly. But if you bake a dish in your oven, using that cheese, the cheese is in your house, and it is in your house richly. What is that aroma? In these texts, it begins with the music.

Gospel Reformation

There are a number of things that go together here. We begin with the objectivity and truth of the gospel—it has to be the word of Christ, and not the words of human traditions, or the words of some idol. The imperative has to be observed. But at the same time, the imperative cannot be observed “raw,” with no participles following.

Jesus told us that we were to evaluate whether teachers were false or true by means of the fruit that followed their ministry. This is because an evil tree cannot bear good fruit, and a good tree cannot bear evil fruit (Matt. 7:16). In these texts, what accompanies the work of the Spirit in causing the word of Christ to dwell in us richly? The answer is pretty plain in the text—singing with grace, mutual submission, musical instruction, giving thanks, and singing in your heart to God.

A Little History

Measured by these criteria, the Reformation was clearly a glorious work of the Holy Spirit. It exhibits signs of His characteristic work everywhere, and in particular we see this in the music that came out of the Reformation.

Before the Reformation, there was a sharp divide between the clergy and the laity. The clergymen did all the worship work up front (sometimes behind a screen), and the laity gathered out in the nave of the sanctuary to watch and listen. One of the fundamental movements of the Reformation was that of reincorporating the laity back into the life of the Church. This was done in numerous areas—for example, in the government of the churches, the ruling elders meant that the laity was now included. But one of the biggest and most obvious transformations was the explosion of music, and the inclusion of the congregation. Words were made plain, and put in the vernacular. The melodies and settings were made accessible so that the average Christian could learn to sing them. The publication of psalters and hymnals was extremely widespread. The people found a voice again, were included in the worship of God again, and they used their voice to sing.

When You Say ‘Calvinist,’ They Say . . .?

How did you fill that sentence in? Was it with any words like music, thanks, or grateful submission? In the first century of the Reformation, at least, it was very much that way. But today, too many Calvinists or Reformed theology wonks are without musical soul. Their cry is “O for a thousand tongues to parse my great Redeemer’s decrees,” which doesn’t even scan or rhyme. When the Holy Spirit is present in a work or a movement, one of the first things that happens is a restoration of joy, and a restoration of joy in the music of the psalms. “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms” (James 5:13).

Reformational Music

None of this means that the music floats in our midst mystically, or in a way that makes all the joys of earthly accomplishment moot. It is not the case that when Reformation arrives, the tone deaf will suddenly start finding their pitch. The thing that changes is the exuberance of heart attitude. The word of Christ dwells in us richly, and we enjoy the rough and tumble lessons that follow. When the Holy Spirit finds our hearts, we find our voice.

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Psalm 50: Rite and Ritual

Christ Church on

Introduction

This is the first of twelve psalms ascribed to Asaph. Mostly likely this is the Asaph who lived at the same time as David (2 Chron. 29:30), although that name does appear later (2 Kings 18:18). This psalm is a wonderful illustration of how thoroughly the godly saints of the old covenant understood true worship.

The Text
“The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come. . .” (Psalm 50:1-23).

Summary and Outline of the Text

According to theme, the psalm should be divided in this way. The first section represents the Lord summoning the entire earth to hear what He has to declare (vv. 1-6). This is a message for all men in all times—the times of the new covenant included. In the second section, He defines the sort of worship that is acceptable to Him (vv. 7-15), and closer to the point, the kind that is unacceptable to Him. The third section outlines the moral misbehavior of religious hypocrites (vv. 16-21). The conclusion then comes with a savage warning (v. 22) and is then followed up with a very gracious offer (v. 23).

The Lord speaks—the Hebrew has “El, Elohim, YHWH says . . .” The entire earth is summoned to come (v. 1). God shines out of Zion, His select city (v. 2). As God comes, a fire and tempest come with Him (v. 3). He will call heaven and earth as His witnesses in the judgment of His people (v. 4). He gathers His holy ones, those who have made covenant by means of true sacrifice (v. 5). The heavens will say amen to His righteous judgment (v. 6). Think on this.

When He comes in the fire and tempest, what does He say? Come, and listen up. I will testify against you (v. 7). They had not failed in the outward requirements (v. 8), and so that is not why they were reproved. God does not want our sacrificial animals (v. 9). He already has plenty of wild and domestic beasts (v. 10). He owns all the wild fowl and the beasts of the field already (v. 11). If God were hungry, He wouldn’t tell us about it (vv. 12-13). Offer thanksgiving to God (v. 14). Pay your vows, sincerely and from the heart (v. 14). Then God will deliver you in the day of trouble (v. 15).

But what does the showboating hypocrite do in worship? First, he declares God’s statutes, and takes God’s covenant into his mouth—and God doesn’t like it (v. 16). He knows the liturgy, and so therefore he hates true instruction (v. 17). He connives at theft (v. 18), consents to adultery (v. 18). He gives his mouth to evil and deceit (v. 19). He slander’s his own brother, a thing not to be borne (v. 20). On top of everything else, he misinterprets delayed judgment to mean no judgment, thinking God to be as fickle as he himself is (v. 21).

Those who forget God need to think about it because God will tear them into little bits (v. 22). But the one who praises God, and orders his life rightly, this person will see the salvation of God (v. 23).

The Great Summons

True worship begins with a right vision of who God is. Isaiah sees the Lord, high and lifted up. Moses saw the glory of the Lord on the mountain. The apostles called upon the one who had made the sea and sky and dry land. If you don’t start there, you have never started. When we look at the disparity between the “fire and tempest” and the complacency of many worshipers, the surprising thing is that more worshipers are not struck dead by lightning every Sunday. The mercies of God are remarkable. Note this: God summons (v. 1); God shines (v. 2); God comes

in tumult (v. 3); He calls heaven and earth to witness (v. 4); He gathers His true saints (v. 5); and the heavens declare His righteousness (v. 6). Now is it possible to talk about rites and liturgy. Anyone who moves straight to liturgics is a fool and a spiritual imbecile.

Rite and Ritual

In a remarkable turn of events, I believe this is the first time I have ever quoted Ambrose Bierce in two sermons running. That able lexicographer defined rite as “a religious or semi-religious ceremony fixed by law, precept or custom, with the essential oil of sincerity carefully squeezed out of it.” And as for ritualism, he said this: “A Dutch garden of God where He may walk in rectilinear freedom, keeping off the grass.” However much we might want to chafe under such definitions, Asaph would have grasped this point immediately.

God does not rebuke them for messing up on the externals (v. 8). Notice that God is bringing a case against them, an accusation (v. 7). The spiritually stupid think that God requires certain things of us because He somehow needs them, which is crazy (vv. 9-13). What does He really want? He wants gratitude and integrity (v. 14). If you have those, you may use a formal service to call upon God—and He will hear (v. 15). If you don’t have those, then save your breath for something else.

Whited Tombs

God asks the wicked why they came to think that He wanted them to talk about His word (v. 16). God never asked thieves, homos, or adulterers to become chancel prancers. Neither did He ask them to become covenant theologians. What is their problem? First, they are unteachable (v. 17). Second, they consent to thievery and adultery (v. 18). Third, they love to lie (v. 19). Fourth, they slander their own relatives (v. 20). And last, they reveal that they worship a god created in their own image (v. 21). Over all of it is a beautiful white robe and stole, like two inches of snow on a dung heap.

God Under Glass

The hypocritical liturgist believes that he has God under glass, God in a box, God under control. He knows the magic words, many of them in Latin. He knows the magic dance steps. He has flowing robes, and greetings in the market place. He loves religion, and all the trappings of religion, but he forgets God Himself. A man in such a position is in for a rude awakening. Like Belshazzar, he does not know what his cup contains until it is full and about to overflow. The only alternative is gratitude and thanksgiving, coupled with honest Christian living.

This Word For Us

We are involved in the work of liturgical reformation, and we thank God for it. But never forget God in the service of God, and never forget that the characteristic sin associated with this form of worship (over millennia) is going to magically disappear in our day.

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