Dale Partridge - May 23, 2024


The Covenant Home Part 5： Parenting with a Covenantal Mindset with Dale Partridge


Episode Stats


Length

51 minutes

Words per minute

127.872185

Word count

6,539

Sentence count

388

Harmful content

Toxicity

5

sentences flagged

Hate speech

71

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:01.000 Amen.
00:00:02.000 Well, what a blessing it is to continue this series on the Covenant Home.
00:00:10.780 Parenting is hard because ignorance is easy.
00:00:16.240 Parenting is hard because ignorance is easy.
00:00:20.400 The tragedy of the modern church is its failure in multi-generational faithfulness.
00:00:28.060 That's the problem that we have seen today.
00:00:30.860 Fathers have failed in raising their children in the worldview of Christ. 0.98
00:00:39.280 And to think that the result of so many apostate children is not attached to how we view children 0.99
00:00:50.600 would be foolish. 1.00
00:00:54.660 and our culture and country has bewitched the family. 0.99
00:01:00.200 It has made covenant parents break covenant with their own children.
00:01:07.860 It's shifted us to think of our children in a way that is not biblical.
00:01:15.520 Now, over the past few weeks, we've talked a lot about covenant, beginning with the covenant
00:01:19.880 of works and Adam, moving into the covenant of grace under Christ.
00:01:23.740 We've discussed the structure of covenants, what they are, how each covenant has a head
00:01:27.840 and a representative that is responsible for procuring covenant blessings or curses to
00:01:37.100 those they represent.
00:01:38.340 We've talked about all these in part one, two, three, and four.
00:01:41.960 Adam was the first representative of humanity.
00:01:45.360 We learned this. 0.72
00:01:46.680 He failed to keep God's commands and brought covenant curses upon all he represented.
00:01:51.760 and that covenant curse was death. 0.74
00:01:56.540 In contrast, we saw that Christ is the second Adam
00:01:59.520 and he is the representative of a new humanity 0.82
00:02:02.620 and he keeps God's commands perfectly
00:02:06.980 and secures covenant blessings,
00:02:08.980 which is eternal life for all he represents.
00:02:13.540 We also learned that husbands are the heads of their wives,
00:02:17.960 that they are the covenant head and representative
00:02:21.080 who are responsible for the state of their own homes.
00:02:25.080 We learned that husbands like Christ
00:02:28.040 are not guilty of the sins of their wife,
00:02:32.020 but they take responsibility
00:02:33.800 for the sins of their wife and children
00:02:37.100 in the same way that Christ took responsibility
00:02:40.120 for the sins of the church.
00:02:43.860 He was not guilty of them,
00:02:45.180 but he took responsibility for them,
00:02:46.800 paying for them on the cross.
00:02:48.100 we are to operate as heads and representatives who are responsible in the same way that Christ
00:02:55.240 operated as a head and is responsible for the state of his bride. Lastly we looked at marriage
00:03:04.000 we looked at the covenantal duties of wives the covenantal duties of husbands today we are going
00:03:08.820 to explore the covenantal duties of parents. Now today's message is going to be more theological
00:03:17.400 than I would like. My role as a pastor is to take heavy theological concepts and make them as
00:03:27.300 simple and comprehensible as possible. And this topic is just difficult. And so we're going to
00:03:36.420 put our academic heads on for a bit. Bear with me as we get through this. It might feel a little
00:03:44.260 bit like a lecture and less like a sermon. But the content here is what is required
00:03:51.400 for us to view our children according to scripture. So I broke it up into four or five
00:04:00.420 sections. Covenant inclusion, covenant apprehension, covenant presumption and versus covenant assurance,
00:04:08.020 covenant blessings by birth. I know those are big words and we're going to learn what they are
00:04:12.460 as we get through this. I think, I think the church struggles from biblical amateurism
00:04:19.060 because we have such a low capacity to think, you know, to love the Lord your God with all
00:04:26.740 your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. People forget that. And so we're going
00:04:30.600 to use our brains to exercise our mind and have a little bit of a theological
00:04:34.580 focus in today's message. Covenant inclusion. The big question is, if you're a Christian
00:04:44.340 who has received the covenant sign of baptism, there's two covenant, or there's two sacraments
00:04:51.120 of the New Testament. Baptism is covenant entrance. The Lord's Supper is covenant maintenance,
00:04:57.880 Right. So you've received the sign of baptism. You're in the covenant. You have young children. Are your children in the covenant or not? This is a very big question. Are the children in your family in the covenant or not? 0.64
00:05:18.140 now when you go as a father to Spain and you become a citizen of Spain
00:05:23.680 your children are nationalized with you imagine being a citizen of Spain but your children
00:05:31.740 are not citizens no even secular institutions understand covenantal thinking when dad becomes
00:05:41.320 a citizen the children are nationalized with him first Corinthians 7 14 says for the unbelieving
00:05:46.720 husband is made holy because of his wife because of the believing wife and the 0.89
00:05:53.380 unbelieving wife is made holy because of her believing husband otherwise your 0.99
00:05:58.340 children would be unclean but as it is they are holy the children of believers 0.95
00:06:05.620 are holy now let's just think about that for a second if you're a Jew first
00:06:10.960 century Jew and you hear the term holy how are you defining that well certainly
00:06:15.460 set apart, certainly as a covenant member. There's no other way to think about that in
00:06:21.840 first century Christianity. Holy means set apart, not of the world, but inside the covenant.
00:06:30.480 In the Old Testament, the entire family was included in the covenant.
00:06:34.560 I think it is still, but it's certainly there was no argument then when a pagan father came
00:06:40.520 to see Yahweh as God, and he's a proselyte that came essentially to join the Israelite
00:06:46.280 people, he was set apart from the world by receiving circumcision. 0.60
00:06:51.820 Reformed Baptists, Presbyterians all agree that circumcision has been replaced by baptism
00:06:55.540 as the sign of covenant entrance.
00:06:58.280 Now, according to the doctrine of covenant representation, his entire household was made
00:07:03.560 holy through him being made holy.
00:07:06.060 Now, they're not being made holy in the sense where they are saved.
00:07:09.380 They're not redeemed wholly.
00:07:12.340 We've got to create two categories for that.
00:07:15.200 You can be set apart without being saved.
00:07:19.420 You could be in the covenant while not being actually redeemed yet.
00:07:24.420 This is the language of the scriptures.
00:07:25.720 The American idea that we are all individuals, where a father and maybe a daughter are in
00:07:32.620 the covenant, while mom and the two other sons are outside of the covenant, is completely
00:07:37.780 foreign to scripture. You will not find that concept in the Old or New Testament. Throughout
00:07:45.340 the Bible, we see Joshua's mindset on the matter. As for me and my house, we will serve
00:07:51.400 the Lord. He declares where his family will be because he represents his family. Genesis
00:08:00.820 17, 27, we see Abraham's faith and representation import his entire household into the covenant. 0.81
00:08:09.400 It says, and all the men of his house, those born in his house and those bought with money
00:08:16.240 from a foreigner were circumcised with him, end quote. Did all those men have faith like Abraham? 0.70
00:08:23.940 Did all those babies have faith in Abraham, as Abraham had?
00:08:29.440 Certainly not.
00:08:30.700 Certainly not.
00:08:31.960 Abraham was very wealthy and had many servants, many people in his household.
00:08:35.440 Yet they were in the covenant because their representative was in the covenant.
00:08:39.700 This is the way that the Old Testament operates.
00:08:43.920 Now, returning to 1 Corinthians 7.14, when one spouse is in the covenant, 0.79
00:08:49.740 The oneness of marriage means the unbelieving spouse is also in the covenant. 0.95
00:08:57.460 You can't be one with your wife, you be in the covenant and her out. 0.99
00:09:01.240 No, she's in the covenant through marriage. 0.92
00:09:04.300 She's one with you if you're a believing husband and an unbelieving wife.
00:09:08.020 Stop thinking individually. 0.96
00:09:10.060 Think like a Christian.
00:09:11.560 Think covenantally. 1.00
00:09:16.260 They're not redeemed.
00:09:18.740 Later, it says that possibly, how do you not know that maybe the believing husband might
00:09:25.400 sanctify or evangelize in a sense, his wife?
00:09:31.260 We don't know.
00:09:32.260 We don't know if we might save our spouse through our own relationship with the Lord. 1.00
00:09:40.680 But what this means is that that unbelieving party who's in the covenant, but is not actually 0.98
00:09:45.960 saved. They're under the influence, the blessing, the spiritual proximity of God's truth. And when
00:09:52.600 scripture speaks of someone falling away, it does not mean that they are falling away from the faith.
00:09:57.440 Jesus says that all that the father gives to him will come and he will not lose any of you.
00:10:03.800 You won't lose any of you. My sheep know me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish
00:10:11.440 is what he says.
00:10:15.000 And so, it doesn't mean they're falling away from the faith.
00:10:17.880 So what are they falling away from?
00:10:19.380 What are the apostate passages in the scripture about?
00:10:23.860 What are they falling away from?
00:10:26.300 No, they're falling away from the covenant.
00:10:30.560 There are people in both the visible and the invisible church.
00:10:36.780 Some are in the covenant by baptism alone,
00:10:38.980 while others are in the covenant by both baptism and faith.
00:10:43.440 This is basic understanding of Old Testament,
00:10:47.820 New Testament, covenant theology.
00:10:51.220 You had people in the Old Testament that were in the covenant,
00:10:54.680 but you were not yet redeemed.
00:10:56.980 This is why Jesus gave the parable of the wheat and the tares.
00:11:03.560 Matthew 13, 28 through 30.
00:11:06.380 After the crop owner learns that there are tares among his wheat,
00:11:10.940 the servants ask, quote,
00:11:13.340 Do you want us to then go out and gather them up?
00:11:16.120 He said, No.
00:11:18.100 Lest you gather up the tares and you also uproot the wheat with them.
00:11:22.500 Let them both grow up until the harvest.
00:11:25.920 And at that time of the harvest, I will say to the reapers,
00:11:29.320 first gather the tares and bind them in bundles and burn them.
00:11:33.000 but gather the wheat into my barn, end quote.
00:11:37.560 In other words, at this time in our current generation,
00:11:42.520 God expects his covenant people to be a mixed group.
00:11:46.320 We're a mixed group.
00:11:48.620 We've always been a mixed group, by the way.
00:11:51.280 The Old Testament's a mixed group.
00:11:52.820 The New Testament's a mixed group, 1.00
00:11:54.880 which God will separate at the end of time. 0.99
00:11:59.020 Paul says in Romans 9, 6,
00:12:00.500 for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel
00:12:04.040 and not all are children of Abraham. 0.59
00:12:08.660 That's a shocking message to a group of Jews 0.76
00:12:13.580 who think that circumcision saves. 0.99
00:12:18.080 No, they're in the covenant,
00:12:19.660 but they're not in a sense of the covenant.
00:12:24.880 Until Christ returns, the covenant community
00:12:27.540 is in a state of impurity. 1.00
00:12:30.360 It needs to continue to be washed.
00:12:32.600 It needs to continue to be united.
00:12:34.580 It needs to continue to be purified.
00:12:37.080 Yes, there is an invisible church that is completely pure,
00:12:39.680 that is completely redeemed within the visible church.
00:12:43.080 We can see that.
00:12:44.860 36% of the world's populations claims Christ.
00:12:49.020 Are all of those people redeemed?
00:12:51.360 Certainly not.
00:12:52.000 The visible church is big.
00:12:53.940 The invisible church is smaller.
00:12:56.340 We understand these concepts.
00:12:59.600 But at the return of Christ and forevermore, the covenant will be completely purified.
00:13:06.300 You can read about that in Jeremiah chapter 31.
00:13:09.720 So to answer the original question, are your children in the covenant? 0.83
00:13:15.340 I cannot imagine any first century Jew or even a first century Roman ever saying no to that. 0.68
00:13:22.380 In a patriarchal society, unfortunately, we are no longer a patriarchal society. 0.89
00:13:31.340 I think biblical patriarchy is what you see in scripture.
00:13:34.160 There is a form of unbiblical patriarchy that we need to reject as Christians, but there
00:13:39.600 is also a form of biblical patriarchy.
00:13:42.240 Christ is an incredible biblical patriarch.
00:13:46.520 but in a roman culture and a patriarchal society the family was an appendage to the identity and
00:13:58.040 status of the father go read any history book and try to find children that have
00:14:04.280 separate identities from their father you will not find it it does not exist
00:14:10.280 When we look to Ephesians chapter 6, 1 through 3, we see Paul addressing children as covenant
00:14:20.040 children.
00:14:21.480 This is a Roman city that is speaking to Gentile believers, and he says, children, obey your
00:14:35.680 parents in the Lord.
00:14:40.280 i just imagine that this letter is written to the churches and this letter is read aloud and there's
00:14:45.000 six-year-olds in the room and four-year-olds in the room and eight-year-olds in the room and two
00:14:48.840 year olds in the room and children from the apostle paul obey your parents where in the lord
00:14:57.160 for this is right it goes on to say honor your father and mother this is the first commandment
00:15:03.080 with a promise that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.
00:15:11.480 So first, Paul assumes that children are to behave as if they are in the covenant with
00:15:18.300 God.
00:15:19.280 They're in the covenant people.
00:15:22.100 The reason for their obedience is that it may go well with you and you may live long
00:15:29.760 in the land.
00:15:30.280 If you know your Old Testament, you know what he's talking about.
00:15:32.600 What land?
00:15:33.600 The promised land. 1.00
00:15:35.400 He's talking to a Gentile New Testament child, almost as if he's part of the same group of 1.00
00:15:43.980 people that was promised covenantally the land of promise. 0.87
00:15:50.780 He's using covenantal language with New Testament Roman Christians.
00:15:56.860 Very interesting.
00:15:57.840 So either Paul forgot that we're now here in the New Testament, we're all individuals now.
00:16:04.600 Either Paul forgot, or he continues to view children as God's people always have, as in the covenant.
00:16:13.700 That's how he views them.
00:16:17.060 Paul is Jewish through and through.
00:16:21.680 And he communicates that in his New Testament language.
00:16:25.900 Because your children are in the covenant, this should shape how you relate to them.
00:16:32.600 Unfortunately, many Christian families influenced by individualism view their children as lost pagans
00:16:39.280 needing to be evangelized rather than covenant members who need to be nurtured.
00:16:46.680 It is a subtle and important distinction that we need to talk about. 0.62
00:16:52.840 Again, no faithful, redeemed Jewish person of the Old Testament 0.94
00:16:58.160 would have tried to intellectually persuade or evangelize their child 0.99
00:17:03.900 to become one of God's people.
00:17:06.480 That's a crazy thought.
00:17:08.580 No, no, no.
00:17:10.420 They're not trying to convince their kid that they're in the covenant.
00:17:13.000 They're in the covenant.
00:17:14.240 That's their identity.
00:17:15.420 That's who they are.
00:17:17.320 They're not an outsider.
00:17:18.560 Later, they already viewed their child's identity by birth.
00:17:25.280 God gave that child to them.
00:17:28.040 It's an appendage to the Father.
00:17:31.620 He is the representation, wherever He is, they are.
00:17:37.740 So their approach was not evangelism, but covenant nurture.
00:17:44.680 nurture. In
00:17:47.020 nurturing their child in the ways and the
00:17:48.880 truths of the Lord,
00:17:50.540 covenantally minded
00:17:52.280 Christians,
00:17:54.740 parents, trust that the
00:17:56.900 Lord will handle the
00:17:58.740 transformation of the heart.
00:18:02.040 It doesn't mean that
00:18:02.840 we don't preach the gospel to our kids, we do.
00:18:05.560 But the posture
00:18:06.640 toward them is not, they're on the outside
00:18:08.960 and we
00:18:10.960 hope one day they'll come in.
00:18:14.680 It's not, you're lost and on the outside and all of a sudden they say,
00:18:22.040 I want to believe in Jesus and I want to get baptized.
00:18:24.960 And you say, let's wait.
00:18:28.040 Eh, prove it.
00:18:33.840 We lay stumbling blocks in front of our own kids' faith when we do that.
00:18:38.680 I don't need 23-year-old faith from a six-year-old.
00:18:41.580 I need six-year-old faith from a six-year-old.
00:18:47.820 I want to talk about covenant apprehension.
00:18:54.640 Why is all this important?
00:18:58.520 Because Christian parents around the world worry that their children won't come to faith.
00:19:05.380 They won't come to faith.
00:19:07.600 You have older kids, you remember the years where you sat and labored in prayer.
00:19:13.620 Oh, Lord, transform the heart.
00:19:18.240 But fear, fear, I'm not talking about faithfulness.
00:19:23.200 I'm talking about fear stems from either being ignorant of
00:19:27.360 or not trusting in the covenant promises of God to parents, to parents.
00:19:34.440 Deuteronomy 7, 9, God says to his covenant people,
00:19:36.820 quote know therefore that the Lord your God is God
00:19:41.580 the faithful God who keeps covenant
00:19:44.800 and steadfast love with those who love him
00:19:49.020 and keep his commandments to a thousand
00:19:52.520 generations
00:19:53.640 okay this is a promise of what's called
00:20:00.760 covenant succession covenant succession
00:20:04.840 It is the exact problem I opened up with. 0.99
00:20:08.400 Multi-generational faithfulness is lacking. 1.00
00:20:12.060 We are failing at covenant succession. 0.99
00:20:18.520 Now, when the term thousand is used here,
00:20:20.900 this is just a little side note, it's kind of fun.
00:20:23.800 When the term thousand is used in scripture,
00:20:26.680 it either means 1,000, exactly.
00:20:30.760 It could be a symbolic term for innumerable.
00:20:34.840 But it never, ever means less than 1,000.
00:20:41.420 Ever.
00:20:45.160 Humanity has only experienced about 260 generations since Adam.
00:20:53.080 So according to the promise, God's faithfulness extends far beyond our current era.
00:20:58.300 This idea that Jesus is coming back on Thursday needs to stop.
00:21:04.840 No, God is going to fulfill the great commission through the church
00:21:07.700 over the next many centuries.
00:21:12.060 Christ will continue to conquer his enemies through conversion.
00:21:18.700 And God's faithfulness is going to go through many, many more generations.
00:21:24.900 His covenant love and promise will endure.
00:21:29.100 Isaiah 59, 20 through 21 says,
00:21:32.120 and a redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who will turn from transgression, declares
00:21:37.900 the Lord. And as for me, this is my covenant with them, he says the Lord. My spirit that is upon you
00:21:43.840 and my words that I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth or out of the mouth
00:21:48.860 of your offspring or out of the mouth of your children's offspring, says the Lord from this
00:21:54.240 time forth and forevermore. What do you do with that? What do you do with that? Well, most Americans
00:22:01.200 go, well, that's just to the Old Testament Israel.
00:22:04.140 That's what most Americans do.
00:22:06.540 I'm going to talk about that in a second.
00:22:10.040 The term Jacob is a term for Israel.
00:22:15.180 No one argues that point.
00:22:19.360 And the true Israel are all the descendants of Abraham by faith. 0.87
00:22:25.920 Who are the true children of Abraham?
00:22:27.840 They are those who are born again by faith.
00:22:34.900 Galatians 3.7 says,
00:22:36.440 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
00:22:43.380 There it is.
00:22:44.820 Right there.
00:22:47.520 America's dispensationalism.
00:22:51.280 It's the view that essentially there's two covenant people of God.
00:22:54.320 There's the Old Testament Israel and there's the church. 0.83
00:22:56.500 They're separate.
00:22:57.840 it has prevented us from understanding the Bible's covenantalism.
00:23:03.220 Okay, there are not two peoples of God.
00:23:06.280 I could do a whole sermon on this, but I won't.
00:23:09.100 There is one covenant of people of God that began with Israel
00:23:12.740 and expanded in Christ to every tribe, nation, and tongue.
00:23:17.840 Okay, the church started in its seed format and has expanded.
00:23:21.880 This is important because it helps us see how the promises of the Old Testament apply to us, the church, the true Israel.
00:23:34.320 The church is the bride of Christ, the true Israel.
00:23:40.860 This is what every Christian believed until about the year 1840. 0.83
00:23:49.160 Go read any Puritan literature and try to find the division of two peoples of God.
00:24:00.640 The promise of blessings to a thousand generations and to our offspring's offspring forevermore,
00:24:08.240 those promises are to all who keep the covenant by faith.
00:24:13.400 Those promises are actually our promises.
00:24:15.120 Yes, were there promises to Israel that have been fulfilled in the Old Testament?
00:24:19.780 Certainly.
00:24:20.480 Is there promises to Israel that have been fulfilled in Christ?
00:24:23.540 Certainly.
00:24:24.480 Is there promises that have been given to Israel in the Old Testament that are still
00:24:30.720 being fulfilled in Christ and in the church?
00:24:34.120 Certainly.
00:24:36.000 You get to learn that the Bible is one whole story, not two different stories.
00:24:45.120 and that the people of the Old Testament,
00:24:48.100 you know how they were saved?
00:24:49.600 By grace through faith in Christ, the Christ to come.
00:24:53.700 Do you know how the New Testament saints were saved?
00:24:56.400 By grace through faith in Christ who came.
00:25:01.500 We're looking at the cross in different directions,
00:25:04.420 but we're all saved the same way.
00:25:07.880 The Old Testament saints were not saved
00:25:09.520 by forgiveness of animals. 0.77
00:25:11.400 Hebrews dispels that. 0.97
00:25:13.180 You aren't getting the forgiveness of sins
00:25:14.480 through the slaughtering of animals, that was pointing people to and preparing people
00:25:20.260 for Christ, who was to be slaughtered, the perfect, spotless lamb.
00:25:28.660 Acts 2.39, we see Peter continue this multi-generational and covenantal framework when he speaks 0.56
00:25:35.380 to both Jews and Gentiles saying, repent and be baptized, every one of you.
00:25:41.660 just think about that for a second 0.73
00:25:45.320 every one of you
00:25:46.720 except the kids
00:25:47.820 right that would be very strange
00:25:51.200 it says in the name of
00:25:53.360 Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and you will
00:25:55.240 receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promise
00:25:57.580 is for you and your children
00:25:59.280 he says
00:26:03.340 he continues he says
00:26:04.780 and everyone whom the Lord our God
00:26:07.160 calls to himself
00:26:08.140 so
00:26:10.100 So, in this verse, the substance of the promise, the promise is for you and your children.
00:26:17.220 Well, what's the promise?
00:26:19.340 Well, the promise in this text is the receiving of the Holy Spirit.
00:26:24.100 That's what he said will just happen.
00:26:27.220 That promise is for all who keep covenant by faith and for their children who keep covenant
00:26:35.220 by faith and for their children who keep covenant by faith.
00:26:41.000 Now, when we rely on our parental efforts for the conversion of our children,
00:26:46.900 I mean, any parent has probably found themselves doing something like this.
00:26:53.340 We try to convince our kids into the kingdom, right?
00:27:00.640 When our efforts rely on our works, fear is the natural response.
00:27:08.700 you start to worry about your own child's salvation.
00:27:15.200 Because we're smart Christians, right?
00:27:16.720 We know that Paul says,
00:27:18.460 I plant and Apollos waters,
00:27:20.540 but God brings the increase.
00:27:23.220 All I can do is plant and all I can do is water.
00:27:26.260 I can't change the heart of that kid. 0.92
00:27:30.440 We can't produce conversion in our children.
00:27:35.140 But when we keep covenant by faith,
00:27:37.420 When we keep covenant by faith, when we stand on God's promises by faith, there's no reason for fear because we have a promise-keeping God.
00:27:54.780 This is the crux of this entire sermon, so pay attention here.
00:27:59.400 Doug Wilson once said, God's promises are the foundation upon which we build our duties.
00:28:07.420 God's promises are the foundation upon which we build our duties.
00:28:14.640 Our works stand on the foundation of faith in the promises. 0.94
00:28:21.080 In other words, Christian parents do not work for the promise.
00:28:27.220 They must work from the promise.
00:28:31.160 I want you to really just let that sit on your brain for a minute.
00:28:34.380 Christian parents do not work for the promise you don't work for it you can't 0.94
00:28:39.900 earn it the promise has been given you have the promise it's already yours you 0.92
00:28:46.920 must work from the promise from it as a parent you do not receive the promise
00:28:54.780 of a faithful child through your works that's not how you get a faithful child
00:28:59.820 through your works instead your works your faithfulness your duties are a
00:29:07.440 response to God's promise to bless his covenant keeping parents with faithful
00:29:14.760 children it's a shift in mindset these are subtle distinctions but they're very
00:29:20.760 important in other words your efforts in raising your child are an expression of
00:29:26.280 trust in the promise. If I had no promise, my efforts, I would
00:29:35.660 have no trust in them. I would be toiling and striving. I hope
00:29:40.460 that everything I do will make them a moral person. No, your
00:29:46.040 efforts in raising your child are an expression of trust in
00:29:49.460 God's promises, not a means to earn God's promise. You already
00:29:54.280 have God's promise. This is good news. It's similar to our relationship with obedience.
00:30:02.540 We do not obey to earn a righteous verdict. Rather, we are grateful for the righteous
00:30:08.260 verdict that has been earned by Christ on our behalf and imputed to us by faith. It's
00:30:13.520 a shift. One of them, if you get it wrong, you'll be a legalist. The other one, you'll
00:30:18.620 get it right and you'll love grace. But it's small and it's subtle. And if you get it wrong,
00:30:23.920 your life will constantly lean on your works for salvation.
00:30:28.460 You'll never rest in Christ.
00:30:30.680 And the same is true with this distinction.
00:30:32.420 If you don't rest in the promise and work from the promise,
00:30:38.060 you'll always wonder if your works are enough.
00:30:41.680 And they're not.
00:30:47.180 Are you resting in the promise?
00:30:54.580 Parents need to evaluate the motive of their parenting.
00:30:58.360 The motive of your parenting.
00:31:01.000 Are you standing on the promises of God or are you toiling and striving to earn the substance of that promise?
00:31:10.160 Are you resting in God's faithfulness to bless your children or are you relying on your own efforts and feeling anxious about the outcome?
00:31:16.460 the truth is we've never been in control of our spiritual of our child's spiritual outcomes
00:31:26.020 it's one of the most difficult truths as a parent
00:31:31.640 we are simply called to trust in God's promises and be faithful in all aspects of our daily lives
00:31:41.220 When we trust the Lord for the results, it frees us to just obey, to be faithful.
00:31:50.240 When we have faith in God's promises and nurture them in the Lord,
00:31:55.700 and they have faith in God's promises and nurture their children in the Lord,
00:32:01.080 we trust that God's going to fulfill the promise of blessing our generations with God-loving descendants.
00:32:07.000 You want to know the answer to having children and grandchildren
00:32:11.680 and great-grandchildren that all follow the Lord?
00:32:15.320 Trust in the promise and work from that promise.
00:32:20.220 Be so grateful that the Lord promises to extend his love to a thousand generations,
00:32:28.220 to bless you and the church, and be faithful.
00:32:33.040 work from gratitude, not from duty
00:32:37.040 work from rest, not from toil
00:32:41.120 this
00:32:44.400 understanding leads us to a concept
00:32:48.280 that I have called expectant redemption
00:32:51.500 I did a podcast with Joel Webin
00:32:55.660 last year on this topic that many parents were encouraged by
00:33:01.300 And I think it's something the church needs to have more discussion around.
00:33:08.980 I want to talk about the ordinary means of covenant blessing.
00:33:13.080 As Christian parents, we can confidently expect the redemption of our children
00:33:18.280 because God has entrusted them to us.
00:33:24.560 To us.
00:33:25.600 unfortunately
00:33:28.600 we often think
00:33:30.280 of the doctrine of unconditional
00:33:32.540 election as if
00:33:34.860 it's the doctrine of arbitrary election
00:33:36.960 okay we often think
00:33:40.440 like first generation
00:33:43.000 Christians 1.00
00:33:43.540 that every 1.00
00:33:46.900 person is kind of plucked out
00:33:49.020 of the world and grafted
00:33:50.940 into the church we think that
00:33:52.840 that's like the ordinary way that God
00:33:54.860 saves. That's the extraordinary way that God saves. You want to know the ordinary way that
00:33:59.920 God saves is giving your children boring testimonies. Okay. It's not this, oh man,
00:34:07.080 my child, man, he, you know, he was a drug dealer and, and then, uh, you know, then he fell into
00:34:13.200 prostitution and, and then he was in jail and then the Lord saved him. No, that's extraordinary.
00:34:20.920 You know what's ordinary?
00:34:22.460 Is parents raising their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
00:34:25.800 They don't even remember when they came to faith.
00:34:28.400 They were growing up as a covenant child.
00:34:32.080 They've always believed and trusted in Christ.
00:34:34.680 They've always prayed.
00:34:35.660 They've always read the Bible.
00:34:36.860 That's been their identity.
00:34:41.300 The ordinary flow is not new graphs.
00:34:44.920 The ordinary flow is the branches that come off those graphs.
00:34:48.100 I'm a first generation Christian.
00:34:49.920 I don't expect my children to follow the pattern that I did
00:34:54.820 I expect my children to grow off the shoot
00:34:57.400 That I was grafted in
00:34:59.280 And I expect my grandchildren to come off the shoot
00:35:02.320 Of their faithfulness
00:35:03.940 That's ordinary
00:35:06.340 The ordinary means of salvation
00:35:08.500 Comes through the family
00:35:10.240 Comes through faithfulness
00:35:12.240 Don't expect your kids to have to have this
00:35:15.540 Rebellion phase
00:35:17.080 and radical, extraordinary testimony.
00:35:22.400 I've seen churches that bring in mafia members
00:35:27.680 and ex-porn stars and they put them in front of the church
00:35:30.660 and they go, wow, what an incredible testimony.
00:35:34.620 And all the kids are in the room going,
00:35:35.720 I wish I had a testimony like that.
00:35:38.560 No, no, you don't.
00:35:40.600 That is not the testimony that you want.
00:35:43.280 That's the extraordinary way of salvation.
00:35:46.060 You want a boring testimony. 0.98
00:35:48.640 And you're just as wicked as either of those people. 0.90
00:35:54.040 But God, by his grace, saved you early.
00:35:58.180 Early.
00:36:02.920 So it's not arbitrary election.
00:36:06.040 God doesn't randomly save people.
00:36:07.760 And I want to explain this.
00:36:09.140 Two examples.
00:36:10.560 Two families. 0.66
00:36:11.300 You have one family with Christian parents and the other with an atheist father and a Hindu mother.
00:36:16.840 Okay?
00:36:17.740 Should both sets of parents have the same expectation that Jesus Christ is going to redeem them?
00:36:23.020 Should they have the same expectation? 0.93
00:36:26.340 My children and then the atheist with the Hindu mom. 0.90
00:36:31.720 Should we have the same expectation for the children in those homes to come to Christ? 0.94
00:36:36.820 No.
00:36:37.780 That would be absurd.
00:36:38.920 the second family 1.00
00:36:41.740 the Hindu family 1.00
00:36:42.880 lacks the means 1.00
00:36:45.580 of redemption
00:36:46.740 there are no means there
00:36:48.720 they do not have faith
00:36:51.500 they do not have the promise
00:36:52.560 they do not have the gospel
00:36:54.160 they do not have the word of God
00:36:55.460 they do not have prayer
00:36:56.560 they do not have the sacraments
00:36:58.200 that all contribute in some varying degree
00:37:00.320 to redemption
00:37:02.940 when you don't have the means
00:37:06.360 you shouldn't expect the ends
00:37:07.560 this makes sense right 1.00
00:37:08.580 can God break in and save the Hindu child? Certainly. But the normative, ordinary means 1.00
00:37:18.660 of redemption is that you have to have the means to get the ends because God ordains not just the
00:37:27.000 ends, but God ordains the means. This should produce comfort in Christian parents. The presence
00:37:34.740 of the means gives you no reason to doubt the salvation of your own children.
00:37:39.080 In fact, you have every reason to confidently trust that God is going to bless your children
00:37:43.460 with redemption.
00:37:44.500 He gave them to you, the parent who is faithful, who preaches the gospel to them, who reads
00:37:53.180 the word of God, who gives them the worldview of Christ, who prays for them.
00:37:58.140 They have all the means.
00:37:59.820 You have no reason to doubt the ends.
00:38:01.900 you have every reason to trust
00:38:05.020 in fact that God expects
00:38:07.260 or that you should expect your salvation
00:38:09.580 of your own children
00:38:10.420 what a blessing
00:38:11.440 now you're not relying on whose efforts
00:38:15.020 you're not relying on your efforts
00:38:16.080 you're relying on the providential
00:38:19.160 grace
00:38:20.320 and mercy of the Lord by faith
00:38:23.240 covenant presumption
00:38:26.920 verse covenant assurance
00:38:27.940 we've talked about covenant inclusion apprehension expected redemption I want
00:38:37.840 to talk about another distinction between covenant presumption and covenant
00:38:42.940 assurance presumption is a fruit of pride presumption is a fruit of pride
00:38:49.060 when you presume the Lord will save your children simply because of covenant
00:38:56.860 status, or that they were baptized, or our works, we rely on God to accomplish redemption
00:39:04.000 without the ordinary means of covenant faithfulness.
00:39:11.280 Scripture often highlights the Israelites' covenant presumption.
00:39:16.120 They presumed hard on covenant, faithlessness in the covenant.
00:39:22.840 Despite having incredible covenant advantages, the word of God, the prophets, the priesthood,
00:39:26.620 temple the promises the blessings their faithless presumption was a massive
00:39:34.260 problem Matthew 3 9 John the Baptist says and do not presume to say to
00:39:39.820 yourselves we have Abraham as our father for I tell you God is able from these
00:39:43.780 stones to raise up children of Abraham don't presume don't presume now the
00:39:53.160 problem is, is when you confuse presumption with assurance. Have assurance. Assurance comes from
00:40:00.260 faith. Presumption comes from works. That's the distinction. Presumption is a type of self-deception
00:40:12.200 that plunges many reformed families into spiritual apathy. They engage in church activities, 0.63
00:40:21.520 religious duties, but their hearts are operating from a legalistic, works-based position.
00:40:30.820 Covenant assurance stems from faith.
00:40:34.540 It's the posture of knowing that you contribute nothing to the blessings and promises of God.
00:40:42.160 Covenant presumption views your works as the basis for securing blessings and promises.
00:40:47.740 And it's not like you're all the way in one camp or you're all the way in the other. 0.98
00:40:51.520 The problem with Christians is that you're mostly in the faith camp, 0.97
00:40:54.540 but then you tiptoe over here with some works, 0.99
00:40:57.420 hoping that they might kind of change the landscape and move the needle.
00:41:02.260 None of it is going to move the needle.
00:41:05.400 You know where you get to move the needle?
00:41:08.720 Abide in the vine.
00:41:12.200 Imagine a flower hanging off of a branch,
00:41:14.900 trying to grow by reaching upward.
00:41:19.840 No.
00:41:20.980 You know how a flower grows?
00:41:22.300 Reaching downward to the roots of Christ. 1.00
00:41:30.060 Again, both groups work. 0.51
00:41:33.440 The presumers, the assurance, they both work.
00:41:38.080 And from the outside, people are going to come up to you and say,
00:41:41.100 oh, you're a blessed family.
00:41:42.060 It must be a result of your efforts.
00:41:43.320 Teach me how you do your things.
00:41:47.600 But you know better.
00:41:48.560 you know that the blessedness of your family is not because of your works but because of God
00:41:55.020 and you know that the blessings of faithful children is because you had faith in the promise
00:42:05.400 in the promise not because you worked for the promise no God will save your kids even if you
00:42:12.920 tried to work for the promise because he loves you because you're actually born again
00:42:16.020 And God will work an extraordinary means out of grace.
00:42:19.560 But the posture of your parenting needs to be working from the promise,
00:42:25.240 not for the promise.
00:42:28.480 All right, I'm almost done here, and I want to talk to the kids.
00:42:31.640 Children, I want you guys to pay attention to me here for a minute, okay?
00:42:37.580 I want you all to recognize what an immense blessing it is
00:42:43.940 to be born into a Christian home.
00:42:49.120 You were not born into the home of God-haters
00:42:54.660 or demon worshippers or pagans.
00:42:58.920 You were born into the absolute blessing
00:43:01.960 of having Christian parents.
00:43:05.660 God has blessed you by birth.
00:43:10.000 and it's something that is a great privilege that you are not to take it or take for granted
00:43:18.240 scripture says as i said earlier pay attention children obey your parents in the lord
00:43:25.660 now you are not trying to become a follower of christ you are a follower of christ you are
00:43:34.780 a follower of Christ
00:43:36.340 just as a child
00:43:39.080 born into a Muslim family is Muslim
00:43:40.980 and just like the family
00:43:43.120 that's born a child
00:43:44.720 that are atheist is an atheist
00:43:46.380 you are a Christian
00:43:48.760 because you were born into a Christian family
00:43:50.880 that is your identity
00:43:54.080 you're in the covenant
00:43:56.600 and where you
00:43:59.040 are God expects you to
00:44:01.020 grow God expects you to
00:44:03.080 grow three year olds
00:44:04.660 five-year-olds, seven-year-olds, 10-year-olds, 14-year-olds, God expects you to grow where
00:44:12.120 you are.
00:44:14.180 And the Bible says, if you don't grow, you will be cut off.
00:44:21.440 Jesus says in John 15, five through six, I am the vine and you are the branches.
00:44:30.060 He who abides in me and I in him bear much fruit.
00:44:32.600 for without me you can do nothing
00:44:34.960 if anyone does not
00:44:37.640 abide in me 0.90
00:44:38.340 he is cast out as a branch
00:44:41.720 and is withered
00:44:42.560 at some degree
00:44:45.460 this branch was connected
00:44:46.660 because there's withering
00:44:49.820 there's withering
00:44:52.840 was it that the child
00:44:57.360 lost his faith? no that can't be it
00:44:59.140 Jesus doesn't lose
00:45:01.580 any 0.83
00:45:01.840 it goes on it says and then they gather them and throw them into the fire and
00:45:08.740 they are burned children God calls you to grow to abide in Christ Proverbs 22 6
00:45:19.660 says train up a child in the way he should go and even when he is old he
00:45:25.400 will not depart from it now this wisdom is based on what is called the law of
00:45:33.920 initial conditions the law of initial conditions I once heard a helpful
00:45:39.980 illustration that I think will be good for the kids if a young tree has a
00:45:44.540 crooked trunk if a young tree has a crooked trunk it'll remain crooked even
00:45:52.760 when it gets big. When a tree is small and the trunk is really thin, it's really easy to make
00:46:00.660 that tree trunk straight. You can bend it and make it straight. However, when that tree grows up
00:46:13.280 and that trunk gets much wider, it's very difficult, almost impossible to bend that trunk
00:46:22.140 to be straight. And so it's the same way as that if you're a child, if you're young
00:46:29.980 and you're crooked right now, and you're crooked in some way, if you disobey now,
00:46:40.640 if you do not pray now, if you do not love others now, if you're not wanting to read your Bible now, 0.50
00:46:46.660 you should not expect that all of a sudden you're going to start doing those things when you're 25
00:46:52.120 God wants faithfulness from you now
00:46:56.840 He wants three-year-old faithfulness
00:46:58.620 Five-year-old faithfulness
00:47:00.020 Eight-year-old faithfulness
00:47:01.300 Twelve-year-old faithfulness
00:47:02.940 And He wants it from you now
00:47:05.300 God commands you to have faith in Christ now
00:47:10.100 To worship Christ now
00:47:13.900 To pray to Christ now
00:47:16.820 And to grow in Christ now
00:47:20.500 so i'm going to close with just a couple points of application
00:47:26.020 trust in god's promises okay reflect on whether your parenting is motivated
00:47:35.280 by trust in god's promises or by your own works to receive those promises truly spend the week
00:47:43.360 evaluating that. Every time you make a disciplining decision, examine where the
00:47:51.060 motive's at. Remember that the blessing of faithful children comes from standing
00:47:56.760 on God's promises by faith, not from trying to earn them through works. Number
00:48:03.200 two, work from faith. Just because you have faith doesn't mean that you don't
00:48:12.340 work. No, you work because you have faith. That's the paradigm. Everyone should see you doing
00:48:20.320 Christian things, okay? You should be doing a lot of Christian things. The motive for those things
00:48:27.100 is faith. You're not legalistically earning anything. You're advertising your own gratitude.
00:48:37.120 they should witness
00:48:40.440 the onlooking world should witness you catechizing your kids
00:48:43.460 and praying for them and worshiping with them
00:48:45.900 and reading stories to them and modeling righteousness for them
00:48:48.480 they should see an entire Christian
00:48:51.920 worldview being imparted and implanted
00:48:54.420 into your children
00:48:55.180 you're working hard
00:48:59.680 laboring from faith
00:49:01.820 from faith
00:49:03.680 I'll close with a quote from Doug Wilson
00:49:10.720 who's probably been the most influential on me
00:49:13.980 seen through a covenantal lens
00:49:18.040 he says faithfulness is full of faith
00:49:22.440 I love that faithfulness is full of faith
00:49:26.480 not full of autonomous works
00:49:29.680 if you come to the covenant without faith
00:49:32.900 you'll lose the promise.
00:49:36.820 If you come to the covenant in faith 0.60
00:49:39.240 even the size of a mustard seed
00:49:42.980 God will give you the whole world.
00:49:47.180 Amen.
00:49:49.420 May the Lord bless us
00:49:51.140 to parent our covenantal children
00:49:53.780 from faith.
00:49:55.640 Let's pray.
00:49:58.360 Father we
00:49:59.260 we ask, Lord, that you would help us make distinctions, biblical distinctions.
00:50:07.040 We know that deception is often in the gray.
00:50:13.260 Lord, help these things become more black and white to us.
00:50:16.720 Help us to see the subtleties that we're not tempted to think in the flesh,
00:50:22.640 that we're not tempted to think as the enemy would like us to think.
00:50:27.440 Lord, saturate us with your spirit
00:50:31.280 fill us with the truth
00:50:33.000 give us convictions of righteousness and sin
00:50:35.780 help us to see what it means to be a covenantal parent
00:50:39.080 that we might view our kids the way you want us to view our kids
00:50:42.780 form our minds
00:50:45.440 and our actions and our parenting and our disciplining
00:50:48.240 and our praying after your own heart
00:50:51.440 we thank you for your word
00:50:54.520 that gives us a map, that gives us truth,
00:50:57.940 that gives us direction that we are not lost, wanting.
00:51:02.260 And we thank you for your faithfulness to your people.
00:51:05.360 In Jesus' name, amen.
00:51:07.920 Amen.