WEBVTT 00:00:02.279 --> 00:00:04.740 Good morning and welcome again to each one. It 00:00:04.740 --> 00:00:07.360 is such a blessing to be back in the congregation 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:12.099 again and to bring the Lord's Word to you from 00:00:12.099 --> 00:00:16.160 the book of 1 Corinthians. We are going to be 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:21.640 looking today at verse 14, taking a close look 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:25.629 at the latter part of this verse. as I promised 00:00:25.629 --> 00:00:29.530 two weeks ago when I preached on the passage 00:00:29.530 --> 00:00:34.409 from verses 10 through 16. So let us turn in 00:00:34.409 --> 00:00:38.369 our Bibles to 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 14. Here 00:00:38.369 --> 00:00:43.049 is the word of God for us today. For the unbelieving 00:00:43.049 --> 00:00:47.829 husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving 00:00:47.829 --> 00:00:54.000 wife is sanctified by the husband. Your children 00:00:54.000 --> 00:01:01.219 would be unclean, but now they are holy. The 00:01:01.219 --> 00:01:03.140 subject today that we're going to be considering 00:01:03.140 --> 00:01:08.560 from this passage is holy children. The covenant 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:13.319 status of believers' children. Let's pray and 00:01:13.319 --> 00:01:16.000 ask for God's blessing on this time. Father, 00:01:16.019 --> 00:01:19.159 we look in your word today, Father. And there 00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:21.640 are many things that we do not understand as 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:25.000 we ought. So we pray today that you would enlighten 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:26.819 us, that you would give us of the power of the 00:01:26.819 --> 00:01:30.040 Spirit, that we might be able to understand every 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:32.719 word, Lord, for it proceeds from your mouth. 00:01:32.900 --> 00:01:35.959 And so we humble ourselves before you in obedience 00:01:35.959 --> 00:01:38.819 to you, and we pray for the illumination of the 00:01:38.819 --> 00:01:43.159 Holy Spirit. Please help us, Lord, to understand 00:01:43.159 --> 00:01:46.739 and for me to expound. on this passage today, 00:01:46.980 --> 00:01:49.780 that it might be glorifying to you and for the 00:01:49.780 --> 00:01:52.219 upbuilding of your church here on the earth. 00:01:52.359 --> 00:02:00.900 We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. The Apostle Paul, 00:02:01.219 --> 00:02:04.099 in speaking of the relationship of the possibility 00:02:04.099 --> 00:02:07.700 of one or the other, of a spouse being come and 00:02:07.700 --> 00:02:10.479 converted to the Christian faith, and the other 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:14.000 one still remains an unbeliever, speaks to this 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:21.699 in this passage, from verses 12 through 16. And 00:02:21.699 --> 00:02:27.319 in this situation, Paul clearly says that the 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:29.840 unbelieving or the believing is not to depart 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:32.439 from the unbelieving. I spoke of that at length 00:02:32.439 --> 00:02:35.020 the last time that I preached, and so I'm not 00:02:35.020 --> 00:02:37.699 planning to go into all of that again today. 00:02:38.180 --> 00:02:43.280 But in the midst of this, Paul drops this statement. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:49.020 About children being either unclean or holy. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:54.680 Now this, he does not right here go into this 00:02:54.680 --> 00:02:58.000 and greatly expound it further. So we're not 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:01.439 going to do a deep exegetical sermon on what 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:04.319 Paul says about this where he explains himself. 00:03:04.539 --> 00:03:08.300 This is more of an assumption. And he gives it 00:03:08.300 --> 00:03:12.659 to them saying kind of as a matter of fact. If 00:03:12.659 --> 00:03:16.300 there is a believing parent, the children that 00:03:16.300 --> 00:03:21.439 are born are not unclean, but they are holy. 00:03:22.340 --> 00:03:26.259 So today, I'd like to take a closer look to understand 00:03:26.259 --> 00:03:31.219 what the Apostle Paul means when he says this. 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:33.780 And we're going to look at a whole number of 00:03:33.780 --> 00:03:37.340 other passages. This subject is a very important 00:03:37.340 --> 00:03:43.740 one. or a family believes and understands this, 00:03:43.979 --> 00:03:48.500 makes a big difference on how children are raised, 00:03:48.699 --> 00:03:51.680 how they are taught, or how they are discipled, 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:55.699 or sometimes not. There's a widespread general 00:03:55.699 --> 00:03:59.039 understanding in much, not all, thankfully, but 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:03.180 in much, of broader evangelicalism that children 00:04:03.180 --> 00:04:08.840 often will not follow after their parents in 00:04:08.840 --> 00:04:12.319 the faith. This is kind of a tacit understanding, 00:04:12.460 --> 00:04:15.340 and it's kind of joked about sometimes. Now, 00:04:15.340 --> 00:04:17.959 thankfully, this is not universal, but it is 00:04:17.959 --> 00:04:22.420 a common one, especially in certain circles. 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:25.360 Rather than emphasizing the covenant promises, 00:04:25.639 --> 00:04:28.620 the holiness of believers' children, and the 00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:30.920 inclusion of the household and faithful nurture 00:04:30.920 --> 00:04:34.379 with real expectation of fruit, there's just 00:04:34.379 --> 00:04:37.339 kind of an understanding that, oh well. What 00:04:37.339 --> 00:04:40.120 can we really do? It's up to them after all. 00:04:42.339 --> 00:04:48.540 So I ask this question today. Are our children, 00:04:48.660 --> 00:04:52.180 the children of believers, are they outside of 00:04:52.180 --> 00:04:55.000 the kingdom of Christ? Are they on equal footing 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:58.980 with pagans? Are they not inheritors of the promises 00:04:58.980 --> 00:05:02.860 made to us? Are they to be viewed not as being 00:05:02.860 --> 00:05:07.000 disciples? Not the servants of God? not holy, 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:11.860 not separated unto God. And some even go so far 00:05:11.860 --> 00:05:14.019 as to say they're not even able sincerely to 00:05:14.019 --> 00:05:16.779 pray to God because they are not yet converted. 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:20.899 And as Proverbs 15, 29 says, the Lord is far 00:05:20.899 --> 00:05:23.259 from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the 00:05:23.259 --> 00:05:27.860 righteous. Is the church to treat children in 00:05:27.860 --> 00:05:32.740 her midst? As the Reverend James Thornwell, that 00:05:32.740 --> 00:05:35.759 prominent southern Presbyterian pastor from the 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:40.079 1800s who taught in this manner. He said, the 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:45.920 church is to treat children precisely as she 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:49.300 treats all other impenitent and unbelieving men. 00:05:49.500 --> 00:05:52.519 She is to exercise the power of the keys and 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:55.480 shut them out from the communion of the saints. 00:05:55.660 --> 00:05:59.180 She is to debar them from all the privileges 00:05:59.180 --> 00:06:03.360 of the inner sanctuary. She is to exclude them 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:06.519 from their inheritance until they show themselves 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:10.980 meet to possess it. Is that what this scripture 00:06:10.980 --> 00:06:17.259 is teaching? Today, I beg to differ with the 00:06:17.259 --> 00:06:21.259 renowned pastor and with others who say otherwise, 00:06:21.379 --> 00:06:25.819 but rather, I believe that the passage here is 00:06:25.819 --> 00:06:30.519 speaking of a covenantal holiness. That is, little 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:34.060 Christians who are to be loved, they're taught 00:06:34.060 --> 00:06:38.800 to pray and to love the Lord and... welcomed 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:43.680 as members of the church. My belief in the thesis 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:48.100 of this sermon is that in understanding the covenants 00:06:48.100 --> 00:06:52.879 of God to us and to our children, this passage 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:56.019 teaches that the children of believers are not 00:06:56.019 --> 00:06:59.579 unclean like the children of pagans, but are 00:06:59.579 --> 00:07:03.180 holy. That is, they are set apart as members 00:07:03.180 --> 00:07:05.899 of the visible church and covenant community. 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:10.160 This status flows from the unchanging covenant 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:13.399 of grace, and it calls us to faithful nurture. 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:17.720 Now, I'm going to expound on the covenant of 00:07:17.720 --> 00:07:20.199 grace in just a little bit, because I think it's 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:23.899 very helpful to understand. But in order to understand 00:07:23.899 --> 00:07:27.199 that, let's begin first of all by examining the 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:30.160 key words in this passage. As I noted two weeks 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:34.009 ago, This section of 1 Corinthians contains some 00:07:34.009 --> 00:07:36.670 of the more challenging verses to interpret. 00:07:37.329 --> 00:07:41.769 Paul writes that the unbelieving husband is sanctified 00:07:41.769 --> 00:07:45.670 by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified 00:07:45.670 --> 00:07:49.509 by the husband. Now, we understand that the unbelieving 00:07:49.509 --> 00:07:53.290 spouse is not automatically saved, but is hagiazo, 00:07:53.490 --> 00:07:57.180 is the Greek word, sanctified or set apart. As 00:07:57.180 --> 00:07:59.620 Anthony Thistleton helpfully explains, that is 00:07:59.620 --> 00:08:02.639 the lifestyle of the believing spouse, their 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:05.899 example and witness, prayer and faithful living 00:08:05.899 --> 00:08:09.660 out of the gospel is bound to affect the ethos 00:08:09.660 --> 00:08:12.540 and to some extent the values and the lifestyle 00:08:12.540 --> 00:08:16.759 of the home. They live, that is the unbelieving 00:08:16.759 --> 00:08:20.170 spouse lives in a sacred environment. a sphere 00:08:20.170 --> 00:08:23.730 in which God's holiness and transforming power 00:08:23.730 --> 00:08:27.269 operates. And then I added this to it, that while 00:08:27.269 --> 00:08:31.149 a Christian is not supposed to marry an unbeliever, 00:08:31.250 --> 00:08:34.970 for that is being unequally yoked together, the 00:08:34.970 --> 00:08:38.389 union of believer and unbeliever in which one 00:08:38.389 --> 00:08:42.889 has come to faith in Christ is approved and permissible. 00:08:43.049 --> 00:08:47.210 It is blessed and sanctified by God as a consequence 00:08:47.210 --> 00:08:51.669 and extended blessing of this conversion. Now 00:08:51.669 --> 00:08:54.269 the word sanctified there is also used in other 00:08:54.269 --> 00:08:57.870 places of the scripture. It's like, it's as it 00:08:57.870 --> 00:09:00.529 is used, for example, in 1 Timothy 4 regarding 00:09:00.529 --> 00:09:04.250 food. Every creature of God is good and nothing 00:09:04.250 --> 00:09:07.929 is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving, 00:09:08.110 --> 00:09:13.070 for it is sanctified. By the word of God and 00:09:13.070 --> 00:09:18.269 prayer. So that's dealing with the spouses. But 00:09:18.269 --> 00:09:21.730 now let's consider what the apostle says about 00:09:21.730 --> 00:09:25.049 the children. Holy children. And so our first 00:09:25.049 --> 00:09:29.669 point today is the meaning of holy children. 00:09:30.429 --> 00:09:33.629 Paul now turns to the children. He contrasts 00:09:33.629 --> 00:09:37.350 them with those who are unclean versus those 00:09:37.350 --> 00:09:42.149 who are holy. Now this word is hagios, holy. 00:09:42.350 --> 00:09:46.210 It is closely related to the word sanctified. 00:09:46.429 --> 00:09:49.990 But throughout the New Testament, it is used 00:09:49.990 --> 00:09:55.070 and translated in two primary ways. 168 times 00:09:55.070 --> 00:09:59.149 it's translated as holy. And around 60 times 00:09:59.149 --> 00:10:04.429 it is translated as saints. Consider these examples. 00:10:04.649 --> 00:10:08.250 Same word here. Romans 1 verse 7. To all who 00:10:08.250 --> 00:10:12.409 are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. 00:10:13.490 --> 00:10:16.450 Ephesians 1 and verse 1. To the saints who are 00:10:16.450 --> 00:10:21.529 in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus. And 00:10:21.529 --> 00:10:25.169 Philemon 1 verse 4 and 5. Hearing of your love 00:10:25.169 --> 00:10:27.309 and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus 00:10:27.309 --> 00:10:31.950 and toward all the saints. Now it is of note. 00:10:32.600 --> 00:10:35.320 That Paul in referring to children as holy here. 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:38.440 When he addresses the saints in a whole number 00:10:38.440 --> 00:10:42.559 of the epistles. He will at times speak directly 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:47.379 to the children. Colossians chapter 2. He says 00:10:47.379 --> 00:10:51.179 children obey your parents in the Lord. Ephesians 00:10:51.179 --> 00:10:55.379 chapter 6. He says children. Again, he addresses 00:10:55.379 --> 00:10:58.240 the children. He also addresses fathers, that 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:00.440 they're to raise up their children, they're to 00:11:00.440 --> 00:11:03.879 nurture them in the faith, to disciple them and 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:08.740 to teach them. But my point there is that they're 00:11:08.740 --> 00:11:11.860 part of the congregation and God's holy word 00:11:11.860 --> 00:11:15.320 in the letter to the church sometimes addresses 00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:18.830 specifically. the children in the congregation. 00:11:19.090 --> 00:11:23.070 He treats them as part of the church that he 00:11:23.070 --> 00:11:27.529 is addressing. So what does it mean then that 00:11:27.529 --> 00:11:31.509 the children are holy, that they are saints? 00:11:32.210 --> 00:11:38.049 Again, contrary to Reverend Thornwell, of such 00:11:38.049 --> 00:11:41.149 is the kingdom of heaven and of God, as Jesus 00:11:41.149 --> 00:11:44.259 taught. When he said in multiple times in the 00:11:44.259 --> 00:11:47.519 New Testament. Let the little children come to 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:50.940 me. The word holy here I believe means that they 00:11:50.940 --> 00:11:55.779 are covenantally holy. They are numbered with 00:11:55.779 --> 00:11:58.039 the Christian church and the covenant congregation. 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:01.360 They are not unclean. That is they are not treated 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:05.960 as pagans or outsiders. Or separated from the 00:12:05.960 --> 00:12:08.899 gathered or assembled and recognized people of 00:12:08.899 --> 00:12:14.570 God. This stands in sharp contrast to the unclean 00:12:14.570 --> 00:12:17.029 person which is described in Ephesians verse 00:12:17.029 --> 00:12:21.309 5. This person, the unclean, has no inheritance 00:12:21.309 --> 00:12:25.149 in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Paul says, 00:12:25.269 --> 00:12:28.970 for you know that no fornicator, unclean person, 00:12:29.070 --> 00:12:33.350 nor covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance 00:12:33.350 --> 00:12:37.230 in the kingdom of Christ and God. Now in light 00:12:37.230 --> 00:12:39.860 of the first part of this verse, Does then, this 00:12:39.860 --> 00:12:42.000 is a question that often comes up when we're 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:44.200 looking at this, saying, well, does the holiness 00:12:44.200 --> 00:12:47.860 of the children mean something more than the 00:12:47.860 --> 00:12:51.000 sanctification of the unbelieving spouse? We 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:53.539 look deeply into what that meant. What does it 00:12:53.539 --> 00:12:56.139 mean that the unbelieving spouse is sanctified? 00:12:56.340 --> 00:12:58.399 And I'm not going to go through all of that again 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:02.669 for the sake of time. So the question is, The 00:13:02.669 --> 00:13:05.169 children being holy, is that the same thing? 00:13:05.250 --> 00:13:08.730 Is he just saying the same thing as what he did 00:13:08.730 --> 00:13:14.750 to the unbelieving spouse? I think, according 00:13:14.750 --> 00:13:16.870 to the word of God, which we're going to look 00:13:16.870 --> 00:13:20.289 at, the holiness of this children means something 00:13:20.289 --> 00:13:26.029 more, way more than it does of the sanctification 00:13:26.029 --> 00:13:29.570 of the unbelieving spouse. The answer is a clear 00:13:29.570 --> 00:13:33.389 and emphatic yes. But to see why, we need to 00:13:33.389 --> 00:13:35.929 look more deeply into the biblical understanding 00:13:35.929 --> 00:13:42.789 of covenant. Of covenant. We're going to examine 00:13:42.789 --> 00:13:46.269 how children are included in the covenant of 00:13:46.269 --> 00:13:50.629 grace in both the Old and the New Testaments. 00:13:50.669 --> 00:13:56.750 In a way that is unique. Now, I want to clarify 00:13:56.750 --> 00:13:59.850 here. When I say that they're in the covenant, 00:14:00.679 --> 00:14:04.919 I am not teaching that all children born to Christian 00:14:04.919 --> 00:14:07.879 parents are automatically regenerated or saved 00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:11.519 simply because they are born to Christian parents 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:14.340 or because they are baptized and marked with 00:14:14.340 --> 00:14:17.879 the name of Christ. What I am teaching is that 00:14:17.879 --> 00:14:20.860 there is a unique covenantal category for the 00:14:20.860 --> 00:14:23.820 children of believers in that they are recipients 00:14:23.820 --> 00:14:27.519 of the promises of the covenants of grace. of 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:30.519 the covenant of grace extended to believers they 00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:33.820 are children of the covenant they are set apart 00:14:33.820 --> 00:14:37.600 as visible members of the visible church in the 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:41.379 covenant community this status flows from the 00:14:41.379 --> 00:14:44.399 unchanging covenant of grace and it lays a serious 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:48.419 responsibility upon us as parents for the faithful 00:14:48.419 --> 00:14:53.399 nurture and discipleship of them but the children 00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:57.220 still must exercise personal and believing faith 00:14:57.220 --> 00:15:02.320 as they get older. And as now their parents acted 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:04.879 on behalf of them and they are blessed in this 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:08.019 covenant relationship that they have, but also 00:15:08.019 --> 00:15:11.580 as they grow older, they must also exercise their 00:15:11.580 --> 00:15:15.899 own will and heart in faith toward God. This 00:15:15.899 --> 00:15:18.759 is a must. And so I want to be clear on that. 00:15:19.620 --> 00:15:23.210 Now the question might arise, So if they are 00:15:23.210 --> 00:15:25.649 holy, if the children of believers are holy, 00:15:25.870 --> 00:15:30.490 does that mean that children are innocent? That 00:15:30.490 --> 00:15:33.929 is, that they are born without sin and that they 00:15:33.929 --> 00:15:37.750 remain in a state of innocence until they reach 00:15:37.750 --> 00:15:42.289 what some call an age of accountability. An age 00:15:42.289 --> 00:15:44.769 of accountability. Now some will claim this, 00:15:44.909 --> 00:15:48.049 but the scripture will not allow it. There are 00:15:48.049 --> 00:15:51.860 two major problems with this view. First, our 00:15:51.860 --> 00:15:54.539 passage itself distinguishes between the children 00:15:54.539 --> 00:15:57.899 of unbelievers as unclean and the children of 00:15:57.899 --> 00:16:01.299 believers as holy. These children share the same 00:16:01.299 --> 00:16:05.100 fallen human nature, and yet one group is unclean 00:16:05.100 --> 00:16:08.440 and the other is holy. So there's not an innocence 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:12.019 in here. But second, there's not an innocence 00:16:12.019 --> 00:16:16.539 because the Bible teaches Adam's covenantal headship. 00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:22.710 And when Adam fell, Sin and death passed to every 00:16:22.710 --> 00:16:27.509 one of his descendants. All of his descendants. 00:16:27.950 --> 00:16:31.289 Paul explains this in Romans 5 verse 12. Therefore 00:16:31.289 --> 00:16:33.809 justice through one man, sin entered into the 00:16:33.809 --> 00:16:36.629 world, and death through sin, and thus death 00:16:36.629 --> 00:16:40.129 spread to all men, because all sinned. Again, 00:16:40.250 --> 00:16:44.389 1 Corinthians 15 verse 22. For as in Adam all 00:16:44.389 --> 00:16:49.169 die. This is the doctrine of original sin and 00:16:49.169 --> 00:16:52.210 of federal headship, that Adam, on behalf of 00:16:52.210 --> 00:16:54.809 all of his descendants in the human race, that 00:16:54.809 --> 00:17:00.190 when he sinned, that sin passed upon all of his 00:17:00.190 --> 00:17:05.109 descendants. This is why Jesus, the perfect one, 00:17:05.289 --> 00:17:10.150 could not be born as a descendant of a man. He 00:17:10.150 --> 00:17:15.799 had to be born of the seed of a woman. Just a 00:17:15.799 --> 00:17:19.559 side note there. God would be perfectly just 00:17:19.559 --> 00:17:25.779 to condemn all humanity on this basis alone, 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:33.839 that we all die in Adam. We sin because we are 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:38.200 born sinners and not the other way around. In 00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:41.180 other words, we're not sinners because we sin. 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:45.359 No, we're... We sin because we're sinners. We 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:48.430 were born that way. David confesses the same 00:17:48.430 --> 00:17:51.250 reality. Behold, he says, I was brought forth 00:17:51.250 --> 00:17:53.750 in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me. 00:17:53.849 --> 00:17:57.130 Psalm 51 verse 5. One only needs to observe a 00:17:57.130 --> 00:18:00.329 two -year -old openly rebel against a clear command 00:18:00.329 --> 00:18:03.809 to see that the root of rebellion runs deep in 00:18:03.809 --> 00:18:07.509 the human heart. Children are not born pure and 00:18:07.509 --> 00:18:10.430 innocent before a holy God, although we will 00:18:10.430 --> 00:18:13.630 gladly acknowledge there's a relative innocence 00:18:13.630 --> 00:18:16.940 in their ignorance of the world's grosser. evils 00:18:16.940 --> 00:18:20.839 all human beings are children of wrath by nature 00:18:20.839 --> 00:18:24.859 as paul says in ephesians 2 verse 3 among whom 00:18:24.859 --> 00:18:28.359 also we also we once conducted ourselves in the 00:18:28.359 --> 00:18:31.079 lusts of the flesh fulfilling the desires of 00:18:31.079 --> 00:18:33.099 the flesh and of the mind and were by nature 00:18:33.099 --> 00:18:37.559 children of wrath just as others so the children 00:18:37.559 --> 00:18:40.440 are not holy because they're innocent That is 00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:42.660 my point in going through this. They are not 00:18:42.660 --> 00:18:46.400 holy because they are innocent, for indeed they 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:49.980 are not. So, when Paul says that the children 00:18:49.980 --> 00:18:52.880 are either unclean or holy, he cannot mean that 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:54.920 believers' children are sinless while others 00:18:54.920 --> 00:18:58.220 are not. Nor is he merely saying that believers' 00:18:58.380 --> 00:19:00.900 children have a better chance of hearing the 00:19:00.900 --> 00:19:04.240 gospel because of godly parental influence. Though 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:07.160 that is certainly true, that there is a great 00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:10.960 influence. This explanation falls short because 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:13.859 it ignores the rich covenantal framework that 00:19:13.859 --> 00:19:16.599 runs through the entire Bible. And that is this, 00:19:16.819 --> 00:19:19.559 that the covenantal understanding that God extends 00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:24.940 his promises and his blessings to his people 00:19:24.940 --> 00:19:29.940 and to their children. And this is said, repeated 00:19:29.940 --> 00:19:35.680 over and over again. You belong to the kingdom 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:38.759 of heaven. You are greatly blessed. You receive 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:41.680 the covenant blessings of God. And these blessings 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:44.859 flow in a unique and special way from believing 00:19:44.859 --> 00:19:48.529 parents to their children. Here's a way that 00:19:48.529 --> 00:19:51.990 several godly commentators and expositors explain 00:19:51.990 --> 00:19:54.990 this truth. Matthew Henry, children of believers 00:19:54.990 --> 00:19:57.950 belong to the holy enclosure and not to the common 00:19:57.950 --> 00:20:01.630 world. Or Hodge, this passage recognizes the 00:20:01.630 --> 00:20:03.930 great scriptural principle that the children 00:20:03.930 --> 00:20:07.430 of believers are holy. They are holy in the same 00:20:07.430 --> 00:20:11.009 sense that the Jews were holy. They are included 00:20:11.009 --> 00:20:13.650 in the church and have a right to be so regarded. 00:20:14.349 --> 00:20:17.289 The child of a Jewish parent had a right to circumcision 00:20:17.289 --> 00:20:20.289 and to all the privileges. So the child of a 00:20:20.289 --> 00:20:23.130 Christian parent has a right to baptism and to 00:20:23.130 --> 00:20:25.950 all the privileges of the church so long as he 00:20:25.950 --> 00:20:29.210 is represented by the parent. That is until he 00:20:29.210 --> 00:20:31.849 arrives at the period of life when he is entitled 00:20:31.849 --> 00:20:35.170 and bound to act for himself. Then his relation 00:20:35.170 --> 00:20:37.930 to the church depends on his own act. The church 00:20:37.930 --> 00:20:42.460 is the same in all ages. That is Hodges' explanation 00:20:42.460 --> 00:20:46.359 of this. The man in Psalm 128 who fears the Lord 00:20:46.359 --> 00:20:49.980 is called blessed. And how is he blessed? His 00:20:49.980 --> 00:20:53.240 wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:55.700 heart of his house. And how are his children? 00:20:55.900 --> 00:21:00.119 His children are like olive plants. All around 00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:04.240 his table. See the glorious imagery there. They 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:06.619 are not weeds. They are not separated from the 00:21:06.619 --> 00:21:09.079 church. They are not alienated from the church. 00:21:09.220 --> 00:21:11.779 Or from the people of God. But they are planted 00:21:11.779 --> 00:21:14.740 in the courts of God. There to be brought up 00:21:14.740 --> 00:21:16.940 in the training. And the nurture and the admonition 00:21:16.940 --> 00:21:20.519 of the Lord. As Ephesians 6 .4 says. So now let's 00:21:20.519 --> 00:21:23.460 do a quick. overview of covenants in the scripture. 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:25.960 And that is my second point. I'd like to give 00:21:25.960 --> 00:21:29.539 a brief primer on covenant theology in the Bible 00:21:29.539 --> 00:21:32.400 because in order to understand this verse, we 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:35.180 need to understand what God means by covenant. 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:38.299 So I'd like to get into that for a bit. First 00:21:38.299 --> 00:21:40.519 of all, what is a covenant? We need to understand 00:21:40.519 --> 00:21:42.240 this. What is a covenant? What's the definition? 00:21:42.660 --> 00:21:45.900 It is a binding commitment that establishes relationship. 00:21:47.500 --> 00:21:50.099 Since all have been alienated from God through 00:21:50.099 --> 00:21:52.180 the sin of Adam, which passed on all mankind, 00:21:52.279 --> 00:21:55.660 and then followed by our own sins in failing 00:21:55.660 --> 00:21:58.759 to keep God's law and actively disobeying His 00:21:58.759 --> 00:22:01.980 commandments, the distance between God and His 00:22:01.980 --> 00:22:06.710 creatures is so great. It is so vast. That there 00:22:06.710 --> 00:22:09.369 could be no blessing, there could be no rewards 00:22:09.369 --> 00:22:14.130 without a voluntary condescension by God who 00:22:14.130 --> 00:22:20.009 chose to make covenant with us. He chose to do 00:22:20.009 --> 00:22:26.250 this and he calls us his people. It is a voluntary 00:22:26.250 --> 00:22:31.829 establishment of a relationship by God with. 00:22:32.430 --> 00:22:35.670 Those who are fallen and were excluded because 00:22:35.670 --> 00:22:41.029 of that fallen state. This is covenant. Now there 00:22:41.029 --> 00:22:45.150 are three covenants that form the backbone of 00:22:45.150 --> 00:22:48.029 what we call covenant theology. And they help 00:22:48.029 --> 00:22:51.509 us to understand God's dealings with humanity 00:22:51.509 --> 00:22:57.829 from creation to eternity. These three are described 00:22:57.829 --> 00:23:00.880 like this. Number one, there is something that 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:04.680 is called the covenant of works. Sometimes also 00:23:04.680 --> 00:23:07.819 it's called the covenant of life. Now in this 00:23:07.819 --> 00:23:10.960 we also see God's grace manifested, but this 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:15.279 was between God and Adam as the federal covenantal 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:18.119 head of all humanity. This was made in the Garden 00:23:18.119 --> 00:23:21.680 of Eden before the fall. The condition of this 00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:25.500 covenant was perfect personal and perpetual obedience 00:23:25.500 --> 00:23:30.619 to God's law. Do this and live. The promise was 00:23:30.619 --> 00:23:33.440 life, continued fellowship with God, and eternal 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:38.140 blessing. And the penalty was death. Spiritual, 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:41.400 physical, and eternal separation from God for 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:44.460 disobedience. We see this in Genesis chapter 00:23:44.460 --> 00:23:48.440 2, verse 16 and 17. God tells Adam, of every 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:50.900 tree in the garden you may freely eat. There's 00:23:50.900 --> 00:23:53.359 the grace. But then he says, but the tree of 00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:55.839 the knowledge of good and evil you shall not 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:58.720 eat for in the day that you eat of it you shall 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:04.299 surely die. You're going to die. Paul explains 00:24:04.299 --> 00:24:07.640 this again in Romans 5 verse 12. Therefore justice 00:24:07.640 --> 00:24:10.859 through one man sin entered into the world and 00:24:10.859 --> 00:24:15.160 death through sin and thus death spread to all 00:24:15.160 --> 00:24:19.650 men because all sinned. So in summary, Adam represented 00:24:19.650 --> 00:24:23.569 all mankind. When he broke the covenant through 00:24:23.569 --> 00:24:28.289 sin, the curse of death and corruption passed 00:24:28.289 --> 00:24:33.950 to every human being. No one after Adam can fulfill 00:24:33.950 --> 00:24:37.750 or obey the covenant of works because we are 00:24:37.750 --> 00:24:41.440 born sinners. This covenant is still in force 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:45.000 in the sense that God's holy standard and the 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:47.980 penalty for breaking it remain, but there is 00:24:47.980 --> 00:24:52.640 no hope of salvation in this covenant. For this, 00:24:52.700 --> 00:24:55.859 there needed to be another covenant, and that 00:24:55.859 --> 00:24:59.839 is the covenant of redemption. The covenant of 00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:03.230 redemption. This is when the three persons of 00:25:03.230 --> 00:25:06.029 the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the 00:25:06.029 --> 00:25:09.029 Holy Spirit, and this happened in eternity past 00:25:09.029 --> 00:25:11.869 before creation, which was an eternal agreement 00:25:11.869 --> 00:25:15.690 within the Godhead for the salvation of a people. 00:25:16.279 --> 00:25:19.420 It was for the salvation where the Father would 00:25:19.420 --> 00:25:22.000 choose a people and give them to the Son. And 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:24.380 the Son would become incarnate. That is, He would 00:25:24.380 --> 00:25:26.779 be born on the earth. He would live a perfect 00:25:26.779 --> 00:25:29.880 life of obedience, thus fulfilling the covenant 00:25:29.880 --> 00:25:33.720 of works. He would suffer and die and rise again 00:25:33.720 --> 00:25:36.519 as the substitute and representative of His people. 00:25:36.779 --> 00:25:40.680 The Holy Spirit then agrees to apply the redemption 00:25:40.680 --> 00:25:45.980 accomplished by the Son to... those who are saved, 00:25:46.019 --> 00:25:49.619 to those who believe. We see this again in multiple 00:25:49.619 --> 00:25:52.779 places. This is the covenant of redemption. And 00:25:52.779 --> 00:25:55.160 again, it's in both the Old and the New Testament. 00:25:55.299 --> 00:25:58.259 The Old Testament sacrifices for sin. They pointed 00:25:58.259 --> 00:26:01.000 to Christ, but it was the same principle. There 00:26:01.000 --> 00:26:04.779 must be an atonement for sin because man cannot 00:26:04.779 --> 00:26:08.779 have a relationship with God and God just excuse 00:26:08.779 --> 00:26:12.140 the sin. No, there had to be blood that was shed. 00:26:12.859 --> 00:26:15.960 And so it was for the animals, but they all pointed 00:26:15.960 --> 00:26:19.579 to Christ, who is the perfect sacrifice. This 00:26:19.579 --> 00:26:24.089 is the covenant of redemption. We can look at 00:26:24.089 --> 00:26:26.329 many different passages on this. Again, I'm not 00:26:26.329 --> 00:26:29.190 going to take the time. They are on the outline 00:26:29.190 --> 00:26:33.690 sheet that I gave you. Psalm 2, Psalm 110, Isaiah 00:26:33.690 --> 00:26:39.470 53, John 6, verse 7 to 37 to 39, John 17, verses 00:26:39.470 --> 00:26:43.750 1 to 6, Ephesians 1, verses 3 to 14, and Titus 00:26:43.750 --> 00:26:46.789 1, verse 2. But here's just a quick explanation. 00:26:47.289 --> 00:26:50.130 This is how and why we can understand that in 00:26:50.130 --> 00:26:53.990 Revelation, chapter 13, verse 8, It speaks of 00:26:53.990 --> 00:26:59.769 the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 00:27:00.069 --> 00:27:04.150 From the foundation of the world. That is because 00:27:04.150 --> 00:27:08.630 the decision for this occurred in eternity past. 00:27:09.009 --> 00:27:12.849 That there would be a covenant of redemption. 00:27:13.950 --> 00:27:16.190 This is the covenant behind the covenant, so 00:27:16.190 --> 00:27:19.269 to speak. It's the eternal plan and purpose of 00:27:19.269 --> 00:27:22.289 the triune God to redeem sinners. The covenant 00:27:22.289 --> 00:27:24.490 of redemption is the foundation for everything 00:27:24.490 --> 00:27:28.349 that happens in time in what we now turn to as 00:27:28.349 --> 00:27:33.930 the covenant of grace. The covenant of grace. 00:27:34.609 --> 00:27:40.509 And this covenant extends to the children of 00:27:40.509 --> 00:27:44.779 believers. It is said to do this on multiple 00:27:44.779 --> 00:27:49.039 times. And that's why I'm tying this in to this 00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:52.740 passage because I believe this is what Paul is 00:27:52.740 --> 00:27:55.400 alluding to and explaining when he says that 00:27:55.400 --> 00:28:00.440 your children are holy. The covenant of grace 00:28:00.440 --> 00:28:04.720 extends throughout the scripture. It's where 00:28:04.720 --> 00:28:08.019 God... Especially the father in and through Christ 00:28:08.019 --> 00:28:10.819 the mediator. And his elect people represented 00:28:10.819 --> 00:28:14.720 by Christ. This was announced immediately after 00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:19.480 the fall. To Adam and Eve right there. When they 00:28:19.480 --> 00:28:22.900 had sinned. There was a promised redeemer who 00:28:22.900 --> 00:28:26.880 would come. And grace was extended to Adam and 00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:30.259 Eve. In that they did not die immediately. Although 00:28:30.259 --> 00:28:33.140 God could have struck them down. But no he chose 00:28:33.140 --> 00:28:39.640 to extend grace. to them this covenant of grace 00:28:39.640 --> 00:28:44.160 is progressively unfolded throughout redemptive 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:47.500 history it's kind of like this maybe this illustration 00:28:47.500 --> 00:28:52.299 will help you the covenant of grace so you see 00:28:52.299 --> 00:28:55.859 here a dark room and in that dark room it's pitch 00:28:55.859 --> 00:29:00.720 black and then god lights one candle And he begins 00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:06.039 illuminating that room with his word. And he 00:29:06.039 --> 00:29:09.099 shows it to Abraham. And then he lights another 00:29:09.099 --> 00:29:13.539 candle. And he shows it more to Moses. And first 00:29:13.539 --> 00:29:16.839 of all to Abraham. And then to Moses. And so 00:29:16.839 --> 00:29:19.160 the candles keep getting lit. And the room gets 00:29:19.160 --> 00:29:23.839 brighter. Until the son of righteousness comes. 00:29:24.059 --> 00:29:28.460 That is Jesus Christ the Lord. And he fully illuminates 00:29:28.460 --> 00:29:30.480 the whole room with the brightness of his coming. 00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:33.160 That's what I mean by the progressive revelation 00:29:33.160 --> 00:29:36.569 of the covenant of grace. where we see it more 00:29:36.569 --> 00:29:40.190 and more. What is the condition for this? It 00:29:40.190 --> 00:29:43.349 is faith in the promised Messiah who fulfills 00:29:43.349 --> 00:29:46.150 the covenant of works on our behalf. And so grace 00:29:46.150 --> 00:29:49.230 and not works is the principle. The promise of 00:29:49.230 --> 00:29:51.769 the covenant of grace is the forgiveness of sins. 00:29:51.910 --> 00:29:55.089 It is righteousness. It is adoption. It is eternal 00:29:55.089 --> 00:29:58.329 life. And it is restored fellowship with God. 00:29:59.049 --> 00:30:02.150 The covenant of grace is one unchanging covenant 00:30:02.150 --> 00:30:05.269 throughout the whole Bible, although it is administered 00:30:05.269 --> 00:30:07.750 differently under the Old and New Testaments, 00:30:07.829 --> 00:30:11.230 some through promises, types, sacrifices, and 00:30:11.230 --> 00:30:13.609 prophecies, and ultimately through the finished 00:30:13.609 --> 00:30:15.589 work of Christ and the sacraments in the New 00:30:15.589 --> 00:30:18.720 Testament. Again, there are multiple texts that 00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:20.759 we could look at this. This is where we would 00:30:20.759 --> 00:30:23.220 see the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis chapter 00:30:23.220 --> 00:30:26.759 12 and 17. It is where the new covenant promise 00:30:26.759 --> 00:30:31.420 is in Jeremiah chapter 31, 31 to 34. And then 00:30:31.420 --> 00:30:35.200 spoken of again in Luke chapter 22. Also in Hebrews 00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:38.180 chapters 8 through 10. That explains it very 00:30:38.180 --> 00:30:41.079 thoroughly. And also in Galatians chapter 3 verse 00:30:41.079 --> 00:30:45.099 16 to 29. In summary then, because we broke the 00:30:45.099 --> 00:30:47.960 covenant of works, God in his great mercy established 00:30:47.960 --> 00:30:51.119 the covenant of grace. Christ, as the second 00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:54.000 Adam, fulfills the covenant of works for us. 00:30:54.180 --> 00:30:58.180 And so all the blessings of salvation flow to 00:30:58.180 --> 00:31:01.519 believers. And to their children through this 00:31:01.519 --> 00:31:04.039 covenant. Let me show you here from the word 00:31:04.039 --> 00:31:06.779 of God. We will notice as we look at these various 00:31:06.779 --> 00:31:09.859 ones. That obedience is still commanded. But 00:31:09.859 --> 00:31:13.119 all of this is God's grace revealed to each generation. 00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:15.900 Listen here. We're going to start with Noah. 00:31:16.019 --> 00:31:19.039 Noah chapter 7 and verse 1. We see the grace 00:31:19.039 --> 00:31:22.059 of God revealed to him. When the Lord said to 00:31:22.059 --> 00:31:26.349 Noah. Come into the ark. You. and all your household, 00:31:26.670 --> 00:31:30.009 because I have seen that you are righteous before 00:31:30.009 --> 00:31:32.829 me in this generation. There are great blessings 00:31:32.829 --> 00:31:36.190 to Noah's descendants based on the fact that 00:31:36.190 --> 00:31:39.529 Noah was a man of God and his children were told, 00:31:39.829 --> 00:31:44.470 or God said, your household is to come into the 00:31:44.470 --> 00:31:47.990 ark and be saved compared to all of the rest 00:31:47.990 --> 00:31:51.869 who were destroyed. We see this in Abraham. Abraham 00:31:51.869 --> 00:31:56.190 17 verse 7. God says to Abraham, I will establish 00:31:56.190 --> 00:32:00.069 my covenant between me and you and your descendants 00:32:00.069 --> 00:32:04.670 after you in their generations for an everlasting 00:32:04.670 --> 00:32:08.869 covenant to be God to you and to your descendants. 00:32:09.049 --> 00:32:12.890 To be God to you and your descendants after you. 00:32:13.049 --> 00:32:17.039 This is the covenant promise. The covenant of 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:20.160 grace and the promise to Abraham. Circumcision 00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:23.019 then was instituted as a sign of that covenant. 00:32:23.099 --> 00:32:27.259 But the covenant was that of grace. God's pure, 00:32:27.500 --> 00:32:32.640 unmerited favor on Abraham and to his descendants. 00:32:33.259 --> 00:32:37.029 Moses speaks of this. Deuteronomy chapter 29, 00:32:37.369 --> 00:32:42.109 there's several passages in here, but we will 00:32:42.109 --> 00:32:44.609 see again all of them being gathered together. 00:32:44.690 --> 00:32:47.049 They stand before the Lord your God, and Moses 00:32:47.049 --> 00:32:50.730 details it. Your leaders, your tribes, your elders, 00:32:50.910 --> 00:32:53.589 your officers, the men of Israel, your little 00:32:53.589 --> 00:32:58.650 ones, and your wives. And also the stranger who 00:32:58.650 --> 00:33:01.759 is in your camp. that you may enter into covenant 00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:04.279 with the Lord your God and into his oath, which 00:33:04.279 --> 00:33:09.680 the Lord God makes with you today. He then concludes 00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:13.519 in the end of chapter 29 and verse 29, the secret 00:33:13.519 --> 00:33:17.279 things belong to the Lord our God, but those 00:33:17.279 --> 00:33:21.960 things which are revealed belong to us and to 00:33:21.960 --> 00:33:26.920 our children forever. They belong to us and to 00:33:26.920 --> 00:33:31.099 our children forever. that we may do all the 00:33:31.099 --> 00:33:34.519 words of this law. The promise was given to David 00:33:34.519 --> 00:33:38.420 and to his son, and this is spoken of or expanded 00:33:38.420 --> 00:33:44.640 in Ezekiel 37, verse 24 and 25. Jeremiah prophesies 00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:47.400 that those who would be gathered from captivity 00:33:47.400 --> 00:33:51.599 after the exile, in chapter 32, verse 38, he 00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:55.259 says, they shall be my people and I will be their 00:33:55.259 --> 00:33:58.460 God. then I will give them one heart and one 00:33:58.460 --> 00:34:01.900 way that they may fear me forever for the good 00:34:01.900 --> 00:34:06.579 of them and their children after them. I will 00:34:06.579 --> 00:34:09.139 make an everlasting covenant with them that I 00:34:09.139 --> 00:34:11.260 will not turn away from doing them good, but 00:34:11.260 --> 00:34:13.920 I will put my fear in their hearts so they will 00:34:13.920 --> 00:34:18.280 not depart from me. Isaiah speaks of this. After 00:34:18.280 --> 00:34:20.880 the sacrifice of Christ, which is given in such 00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:25.000 wonderful prophetic form in chapter 53, the prophet 00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:28.219 then follows up with chapter 54 and he speaks 00:34:28.219 --> 00:34:31.880 great promises to the nations. What is this promise? 00:34:32.039 --> 00:34:34.900 That God would establish his relationship with 00:34:34.900 --> 00:34:38.400 them, keeping covenant with them like Noah. And 00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:42.400 then God says in verse 13 of chapter 4, all your 00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:45.630 children shall be taught. by the lord and great 00:34:45.630 --> 00:34:48.849 shall be the peace of your children again the 00:34:48.849 --> 00:34:54.750 covenant is to you and to your children now here's 00:34:54.750 --> 00:34:57.150 the question and this is the one of obviously 00:34:57.150 --> 00:35:01.289 that many in the church will disagree on all 00:35:01.289 --> 00:35:04.789 right so does the new testament change this paradigm 00:35:04.789 --> 00:35:10.050 that's the question does the new testament change 00:35:10.050 --> 00:35:16.409 this paradigm in some way Does the new covenant, 00:35:16.510 --> 00:35:19.369 which describes the work of Christ in dying for 00:35:19.369 --> 00:35:21.710 their sins, in atoning for them and reconciling 00:35:21.710 --> 00:35:26.469 them to God, change this? How do the apostles 00:35:26.469 --> 00:35:29.630 and prophets teach this? We're going to look 00:35:29.630 --> 00:35:34.489 at three major passages. The first one is on 00:35:34.489 --> 00:35:38.329 the day of Pentecost. To the thousands of Jews 00:35:38.329 --> 00:35:40.550 that are present in Jerusalem for the feast, 00:35:40.710 --> 00:35:43.590 and in the sermon that Peter preaches after the 00:35:43.590 --> 00:35:46.949 Holy Spirit, Is poured out on the people. On 00:35:46.949 --> 00:35:49.730 the apostles. On the church. Luke then records 00:35:49.730 --> 00:35:53.809 this. They. That is the audience. When they heard 00:35:53.809 --> 00:35:57.309 this. They were cut to the heart. And said to 00:35:57.309 --> 00:36:00.230 Peter and the rest of the apostles. Men and brethren. 00:36:00.269 --> 00:36:05.130 What shall we do? And Peter said to them. Repent. 00:36:05.789 --> 00:36:08.530 And let every one of you be baptized. In the 00:36:08.530 --> 00:36:11.150 name of Jesus Christ. For the remission of sins. 00:36:11.650 --> 00:36:15.380 And you shall receive the gift. Of the Holy Spirit. 00:36:16.119 --> 00:36:20.320 Now look at that great promise. Repent. Believe. 00:36:20.519 --> 00:36:23.699 Be baptized. You'll receive the gift of the Holy 00:36:23.699 --> 00:36:28.019 Spirit. But then he continues. This great promise. 00:36:28.099 --> 00:36:32.480 He says. For this promise. For the promise. And 00:36:32.480 --> 00:36:35.639 here he's quoting the Old Testament. Is to you. 00:36:36.519 --> 00:36:40.739 And to your children. Now he continues saying 00:36:40.739 --> 00:36:43.619 it's to all who are far off as many as the Lord 00:36:43.619 --> 00:36:46.579 our God will call. So the ones afar off are the 00:36:46.579 --> 00:36:49.199 Gentiles and Jews who were not present and who 00:36:49.199 --> 00:36:52.659 came in succeeding generations. But directly 00:36:52.659 --> 00:36:55.860 to them, to the Jews and to the proselytes present, 00:36:56.219 --> 00:37:01.159 Peter follows in the same theme of covenant in 00:37:01.159 --> 00:37:03.559 the Old Testament and says this promise is to 00:37:03.559 --> 00:37:08.360 you and to your children. Children are included. 00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:14.179 as the people of God. And Peter here follows 00:37:14.179 --> 00:37:18.940 right in that same pattern of thinking and preaching 00:37:18.940 --> 00:37:22.460 as he preaches to them. That's the one passage. 00:37:22.940 --> 00:37:26.900 Secondly, this is an Old Testament passage, but 00:37:26.900 --> 00:37:28.780 it's prophesying of the New Testament times. 00:37:28.900 --> 00:37:32.179 And that is in the promise in Isaiah when he 00:37:32.179 --> 00:37:35.880 prophesies about the inclusion of the Gentiles 00:37:35.880 --> 00:37:38.989 to the people of God. He says, they will fear 00:37:38.989 --> 00:37:41.510 the name of the Lord from the coastlands and 00:37:41.510 --> 00:37:43.989 from the west and from the east. And that the 00:37:43.989 --> 00:37:46.869 spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard. The 00:37:46.869 --> 00:37:49.969 Redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn 00:37:49.969 --> 00:37:52.949 from transgression in Jacob. And then look what 00:37:52.949 --> 00:37:56.489 is promised. He continues. He says, as for me, 00:37:56.630 --> 00:37:59.590 says the Lord, this is my covenant with them. 00:37:59.710 --> 00:38:03.369 My spirit who is upon you and my words which 00:38:03.369 --> 00:38:05.909 I have put in your mouth shall not depart from 00:38:05.909 --> 00:38:09.230 your mouth. nor from the mouth of your descendants, 00:38:09.710 --> 00:38:12.630 nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants, 00:38:12.909 --> 00:38:16.710 says the Lord from this time and forevermore. 00:38:16.929 --> 00:38:21.289 Again here, showing the promises of God are given 00:38:21.289 --> 00:38:26.489 to people and to their children or to their descendants. 00:38:26.869 --> 00:38:30.369 That was in Isaiah 59 verse 21. And finally then, 00:38:30.489 --> 00:38:33.920 in our passage today. I believe this is why the 00:38:33.920 --> 00:38:36.780 children of believers are called holy or saints. 00:38:37.019 --> 00:38:39.420 They are included in the visible administration 00:38:39.420 --> 00:38:42.280 of the covenant of grace through the faith of 00:38:42.280 --> 00:38:45.360 the godly parents and they belong to the covenant 00:38:45.360 --> 00:38:50.679 community. Thirdly, we want to look at the internal 00:38:50.679 --> 00:38:53.880 versus external aspects of the covenant of grace. 00:38:54.079 --> 00:38:56.780 And this is both in the Old Testament and the 00:38:56.780 --> 00:39:01.780 New Testament. So the external is visible membership, 00:39:01.980 --> 00:39:04.820 it is privileges, it is responsibilities in the 00:39:04.820 --> 00:39:07.719 church community. We see this in Romans 11 and 00:39:07.719 --> 00:39:10.260 in John 15 about being attached to the vine, 00:39:10.400 --> 00:39:13.659 but bearing forth fruit. This also includes, 00:39:13.900 --> 00:39:16.579 I believe, the taking of the Lord's Supper. Now, 00:39:16.579 --> 00:39:20.039 why do I say visible, the visible membership 00:39:20.039 --> 00:39:23.360 or visible church? It's because none of us can 00:39:23.360 --> 00:39:27.239 see into each other's hearts. I can't look into 00:39:27.239 --> 00:39:30.420 all of your hearts and see, do you really have 00:39:30.420 --> 00:39:32.920 believing faith? Or are you putting on a false 00:39:32.920 --> 00:39:35.380 front and just confessing some kind of a faith? 00:39:35.440 --> 00:39:39.199 I can't see that. And sometimes we don't even 00:39:39.199 --> 00:39:42.800 know our own hearts well enough. God is the one 00:39:42.800 --> 00:39:45.460 who reveals that. But here's what I do know. 00:39:46.519 --> 00:39:49.099 Right here are the people of God. Right here. 00:39:50.250 --> 00:39:52.630 Even if there's someone in here where you have 00:39:52.630 --> 00:39:55.809 a false faith, right now you're included as the 00:39:55.809 --> 00:39:58.670 people of God. And I can address you that, and 00:39:58.670 --> 00:40:01.150 that's what I mean by the visible church. You're 00:40:01.150 --> 00:40:06.539 part of the visible church. There have been many 00:40:06.539 --> 00:40:09.000 baptized and professing believers who did not 00:40:09.000 --> 00:40:11.380 possess true faith, and it became evident as 00:40:11.380 --> 00:40:14.579 time passed. Only God fully knows the heart, 00:40:14.619 --> 00:40:16.920 and the Spirit pierces the heart with the sword, 00:40:17.000 --> 00:40:19.480 the word of God. But the congregation of the 00:40:19.480 --> 00:40:22.199 Lord, the gathered church, includes those who 00:40:22.199 --> 00:40:24.500 are named with the name of Christ and who are 00:40:24.500 --> 00:40:27.019 baptized in accordance with that naming, and 00:40:27.019 --> 00:40:29.179 thus they are called the people of God or the 00:40:29.179 --> 00:40:32.840 visible church. However, there's the internal 00:40:32.840 --> 00:40:36.750 aspect of the covenant of grace. So in that sense, 00:40:36.889 --> 00:40:39.630 we're saying you all are inheritors of the covenant 00:40:39.630 --> 00:40:42.750 of grace. But at the same time, there's also 00:40:42.750 --> 00:40:45.949 an internal aspect, and that is personal faith, 00:40:46.030 --> 00:40:50.389 a new heart, and salvation required. That you 00:40:50.389 --> 00:40:53.250 believe in your heart that Jesus is raised from 00:40:53.250 --> 00:40:55.849 the dead, and you act and believe accordingly. 00:40:56.369 --> 00:41:00.030 Romans 2, 28 and 29, and Romans 9, verse 6 and 00:41:00.030 --> 00:41:04.300 8. And so parents and children alike must trust 00:41:04.300 --> 00:41:08.639 in Christ for the internal reality to match the 00:41:08.639 --> 00:41:11.659 external position. That of being in the covenant 00:41:11.659 --> 00:41:14.420 of grace as we look and being gathered together. 00:41:14.780 --> 00:41:17.699 Each one of these covenant promises to Abraham, 00:41:18.039 --> 00:41:21.760 to Moses, to David, to Peter, and to Paul. In 00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:23.639 each one of these, they were called the people 00:41:23.639 --> 00:41:26.159 of God, and they received the mark of belonging 00:41:26.159 --> 00:41:29.260 upon them, but they were also called to an inner 00:41:29.260 --> 00:41:32.280 conversion, that is, or as it is phrased frequently, 00:41:32.659 --> 00:41:35.960 both in the Old and New Testament, the circumcision 00:41:35.960 --> 00:41:38.260 of the heart. In other words, like when you looked 00:41:38.260 --> 00:41:40.400 at the Jews, who was the church at that time, 00:41:40.500 --> 00:41:44.079 you saw there that they had an external circumcision. 00:41:44.179 --> 00:41:46.579 But Moses still said, your hearts need to be 00:41:46.579 --> 00:41:49.500 circumcised. In other words, you needed to experience 00:41:49.500 --> 00:41:54.280 on the inside what you are on the outside. You 00:41:54.280 --> 00:41:56.860 are the people of God, but you need to match 00:41:56.860 --> 00:42:00.119 that. That needs to be an internal belonging 00:42:00.119 --> 00:42:04.440 to God. And thus we see, as we look in the children 00:42:04.440 --> 00:42:08.340 of Israel, that there were those who, were externally 00:42:08.340 --> 00:42:10.460 part of the people of God, but they were filled 00:42:10.460 --> 00:42:13.340 with unbelief. And so God destroyed them or God 00:42:13.340 --> 00:42:16.139 brought them and cut them off. And so that same 00:42:16.139 --> 00:42:20.340 warning is for us as well. We must have it within 00:42:20.340 --> 00:42:24.139 an internal faith. Moses called for it. Isaiah 00:42:24.139 --> 00:42:26.940 called for it. And Jesus calls for it as well. 00:42:27.340 --> 00:42:29.760 there's an external covenant with blessings that 00:42:29.760 --> 00:42:32.519 come to the people of god and it is to all of 00:42:32.519 --> 00:42:34.940 the people and to their children but at the same 00:42:34.940 --> 00:42:36.940 time they are called to have a heart after god 00:42:36.940 --> 00:42:39.679 that matches the external position that they 00:42:39.679 --> 00:42:42.679 have when jeremiah talks about the new covenant 00:42:42.679 --> 00:42:45.940 he is talking about this but this was also called 00:42:45.940 --> 00:42:49.360 for by the old testament prophets we have received 00:42:49.360 --> 00:42:52.059 the benefits of christ who has come and who after 00:42:52.059 --> 00:42:55.219 his ascension sent the holy spirit but the principle 00:42:55.219 --> 00:42:57.980 is the same throughout the Bible. God's promises 00:42:57.980 --> 00:43:01.000 are to his people and to their children. And 00:43:01.000 --> 00:43:03.280 so when Peter stands up on the day of Pentecost 00:43:03.280 --> 00:43:06.199 and he tells them, this promise is to you and 00:43:06.199 --> 00:43:09.260 to your children and to all who are afar off, 00:43:09.340 --> 00:43:12.360 he is making a special point like the Old Testament 00:43:12.360 --> 00:43:14.960 covenantal promises, which that the promises 00:43:14.960 --> 00:43:18.199 are for you and for your children. The new covenant 00:43:18.199 --> 00:43:21.139 does not take this away, but it rather strengthens 00:43:21.139 --> 00:43:24.360 it. For the new covenant is more, not less. the 00:43:24.360 --> 00:43:27.440 promises are even greater in the covenant not 00:43:27.440 --> 00:43:30.679 lesser they are more abundant not less abundant 00:43:30.679 --> 00:43:33.920 they extend further they are not restricted more 00:43:33.920 --> 00:43:37.559 they are greatly enhanced which is why we see 00:43:37.559 --> 00:43:40.320 so clearly that the greater promise in the new 00:43:40.320 --> 00:43:43.820 covenant is that both male and female receive 00:43:43.820 --> 00:43:46.300 the sign of that covenant in baptism and not 00:43:46.300 --> 00:43:50.079 the males only in circumcision Just another fascinating 00:43:50.079 --> 00:43:53.260 thing. Children of believers enjoy the greatest 00:43:53.260 --> 00:43:56.280 privileges on earth. They are surrounded by the 00:43:56.280 --> 00:44:00.559 oracles of God. Romans 3 verse 1 and 2. And yet 00:44:00.559 --> 00:44:03.739 they must personally believe the gospel. The 00:44:03.739 --> 00:44:06.300 children of unbelievers, they are outside the 00:44:06.300 --> 00:44:09.679 covenant. They are unclean. This does not mean 00:44:09.679 --> 00:44:11.699 that they are reprobate and cannot be saved. 00:44:11.780 --> 00:44:14.880 But they do not have this covenantal status and 00:44:14.880 --> 00:44:20.269 privileges like the children of believers. Let's 00:44:20.269 --> 00:44:23.650 look at just a few final implications and responsibilities. 00:44:23.889 --> 00:44:25.750 Now, I understand some of this is kind of deep. 00:44:25.849 --> 00:44:29.250 Some of you are, okay, I know I tried to be more 00:44:29.250 --> 00:44:31.869 simple, but in this one, I really wanted to get 00:44:31.869 --> 00:44:34.869 into that and develop it further. And maybe you'll 00:44:34.869 --> 00:44:37.789 have to kind of regurgitate it some more and 00:44:37.789 --> 00:44:40.630 think on it. And certainly I'm available to ask. 00:44:41.949 --> 00:44:44.510 For you to ask questions, although I don't necessarily 00:44:44.510 --> 00:44:47.409 have all of the answers. But this is the rich 00:44:47.409 --> 00:44:49.869 covenantal theology in the word of God that I 00:44:49.869 --> 00:44:52.550 have tried to explain to you today. What are 00:44:52.550 --> 00:44:54.969 some of the practical implications and responsibilities? 00:44:55.590 --> 00:44:59.469 Also, number one, for parents, raise your covenant 00:44:59.469 --> 00:45:02.989 children with the understanding that they belong 00:45:02.989 --> 00:45:07.179 to God. They belong to God. And so you give them 00:45:07.179 --> 00:45:10.380 the pure gospel along with God's word and you 00:45:10.380 --> 00:45:12.719 discipline and instruct them and you pray with 00:45:12.719 --> 00:45:15.280 them and you model faith yourself so that they 00:45:15.280 --> 00:45:19.059 grow in piety and faith. Lord willing, next week, 00:45:19.219 --> 00:45:21.599 I'm going to continue in this vein and we're 00:45:21.599 --> 00:45:24.300 going to be looking more on how to raise covenant 00:45:24.300 --> 00:45:28.260 children. In other words, just some practical 00:45:28.260 --> 00:45:30.960 help, some biblical wisdom on the raising of 00:45:30.960 --> 00:45:34.840 children. You all have been given children as 00:45:34.840 --> 00:45:38.280 a gift from God, but God calls on your children 00:45:38.280 --> 00:45:40.659 and all children in the covenant, He calls them 00:45:40.659 --> 00:45:45.360 My children. In Ezekiel 16, when God reproves 00:45:45.360 --> 00:45:47.840 unfaithful Israel for their idolatry and their 00:45:47.840 --> 00:45:51.940 adultery, He tells them, Moreover, you took your 00:45:51.940 --> 00:45:55.519 sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me, 00:45:55.880 --> 00:45:59.619 and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. 00:45:59.960 --> 00:46:03.059 Were your acts of harlotry a small matter that 00:46:03.059 --> 00:46:08.639 you have slain my children? You have slain, he 00:46:08.639 --> 00:46:14.019 tells them, my children and offered them up to 00:46:14.019 --> 00:46:17.039 them by causing them to pass through the fire. 00:46:18.000 --> 00:46:21.820 You took my children, God says. Your children, 00:46:21.880 --> 00:46:25.760 dearly beloved, they belong to God. And now you 00:46:25.760 --> 00:46:29.840 have the responsibility of raising God's children 00:46:29.840 --> 00:46:37.840 faithfully and for the glory of God. And for 00:46:37.840 --> 00:46:41.699 the church, receive and nurture these holy children 00:46:41.699 --> 00:46:45.679 as part of the visible covenant community. Love 00:46:45.679 --> 00:46:50.760 them. Care for them. Hold them close. Speak to 00:46:50.760 --> 00:46:53.440 them. Treat them as your brothers and sisters 00:46:53.440 --> 00:46:59.960 in Christ. You repeat that again. Treat the little 00:46:59.960 --> 00:47:02.880 children in the church as your brothers and sisters 00:47:02.880 --> 00:47:07.480 in Christ and build relationships with them. 00:47:09.619 --> 00:47:12.440 Some of you might be wondering, aren't you going 00:47:12.440 --> 00:47:14.860 to say anything about baptism in all of this? 00:47:15.199 --> 00:47:18.539 Now, I have certainly intended here, I desire 00:47:18.539 --> 00:47:21.980 to lay the covenantal foundation for it all. 00:47:22.699 --> 00:47:26.760 This does enter, obviously, as we practice it 00:47:26.760 --> 00:47:29.199 here, household baptism does enter into this, 00:47:29.239 --> 00:47:31.679 but I did not want this to be the main focus. 00:47:31.760 --> 00:47:33.840 I wanted to look at this whole understanding. 00:47:34.400 --> 00:47:37.820 I will just say here, though, the inclusion of 00:47:37.820 --> 00:47:40.820 children in baptism is a wonderful picture of 00:47:40.820 --> 00:47:44.099 God's undeserved grace, for they received unearned 00:47:44.099 --> 00:47:46.900 privileges. It is a picture of sovereign grace 00:47:46.900 --> 00:47:50.840 to all believers. This principle of covenant 00:47:50.840 --> 00:47:53.360 and grace undergirds the practice of household 00:47:53.360 --> 00:47:57.320 baptism, which includes infants. Baptism is a 00:47:57.320 --> 00:47:59.679 Christian rite of entrance into Christ's church, 00:47:59.880 --> 00:48:02.880 the gathered body of believers. The New Testament 00:48:02.880 --> 00:48:07.400 records nine named examples of Christian baptism. 00:48:07.639 --> 00:48:11.360 Nine that are named, okay? Or people that are 00:48:11.360 --> 00:48:14.420 named with it. Every time that a household is 00:48:14.420 --> 00:48:17.579 mentioned, the household was baptized and brought 00:48:17.579 --> 00:48:21.239 into the church. Cornelius, Lydia, the Philippian 00:48:21.239 --> 00:48:24.719 jailer, Stephanas, and others. The remaining 00:48:24.719 --> 00:48:28.579 three named examples were all single men who 00:48:28.579 --> 00:48:31.559 were without households. The Ethiopian eunuch, 00:48:31.719 --> 00:48:35.460 Saul, and Simon Magus, who ended up being a false 00:48:35.460 --> 00:48:38.920 convert. Thus, household baptism is the same 00:48:38.920 --> 00:48:41.320 covenant principle that is taught and demonstrated 00:48:41.320 --> 00:48:44.380 throughout the Bible. The burden of proof in 00:48:44.380 --> 00:48:48.019 rejecting household baptism Is on those who exclude 00:48:48.019 --> 00:48:52.039 children. And not on we who include them. We 00:48:52.039 --> 00:48:54.159 believe there is continuity with the sign of 00:48:54.159 --> 00:48:56.780 the covenant. In circumcision that came before 00:48:56.780 --> 00:49:00.679 Christ. Was applied to male children. And baptism. 00:49:00.860 --> 00:49:03.940 Which is now the greater sign and seal. And no 00:49:03.940 --> 00:49:06.320 longer has a male or female distinction like 00:49:06.320 --> 00:49:09.980 circumcision. Which reflects the change. To Jews 00:49:09.980 --> 00:49:12.539 and Gentiles being together in the New Testament 00:49:12.539 --> 00:49:16.170 church. Bottom line. Our children are our disciples, 00:49:16.409 --> 00:49:19.010 and disciple -making and teaching begins with 00:49:19.010 --> 00:49:21.489 baptism as Jesus taught in the Great Commission, 00:49:21.670 --> 00:49:25.809 and then we teach all things. I'm called as a 00:49:25.809 --> 00:49:28.610 pastor and as a teacher to equip the saints, 00:49:28.769 --> 00:49:32.670 which includes all of you, and right now I'm 00:49:32.670 --> 00:49:37.590 speaking to you as parents that one of my jobs 00:49:37.590 --> 00:49:41.909 is to equip you as parents to be able to minister. 00:49:42.619 --> 00:49:45.039 To the body of Christ which is in your home. 00:49:45.280 --> 00:49:48.920 It is in your home. As well as the full body 00:49:48.920 --> 00:49:51.960 of Christ. This includes your children. To all 00:49:51.960 --> 00:49:54.480 come in the unity of the faith. And the knowledge 00:49:54.480 --> 00:49:59.119 of the son of God. Baptism marks belonging. It 00:49:59.119 --> 00:50:02.039 points to cleansing a new life in Christ. And 00:50:02.039 --> 00:50:04.860 does not create holiness. But publicly recognizes 00:50:04.860 --> 00:50:11.179 it. And so as I close. Dearly beloved. Let us 00:50:11.179 --> 00:50:14.670 take our children. And if you are persuaded by 00:50:14.670 --> 00:50:18.309 the word of God, baptize them. But in all, raise 00:50:18.309 --> 00:50:21.550 them up in the Lord. Rejoice in the faithfulness 00:50:21.550 --> 00:50:25.230 of the covenant God who says, I will be a God 00:50:25.230 --> 00:50:30.769 to you and to your children after you. For these 00:50:30.769 --> 00:50:35.610 great and precious promises are to us and to 00:50:35.610 --> 00:50:37.429 our children. Let's pray.