“Telling the Generation to Come” (Ps 78:1-31)

Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.(vs1-4)

We are not ashamed of the gospel, but we declare it to our children, spreading the truth of Christ, which must be heard (vs1-9). It is madness to think that a man can live for this world, and love people at the same time! Scripture says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). If he doesn't live that others know God, it's because he doesn't know God himself. We pass on the best we have, like Peter, when we give men the name of Christ and knowledge of His Person (Acts 3:6).

It is NOT for our children to decide their own way, any more than we let them “decide” to walk in the middle of traffic or “decide” to drink poison. No, we teach them, intervening as parents and as people who care. Proverbs 19:18 says, “Chasten your son while there is hope, and do not set your heart on his destruction”, or, “do not stop because of his tears, thinking that you're killing him”. We must have peace by the blood of God's Son, so we tell our little vipers - our children born born into corruption - the great way of peace with God, the gift of eternal life, and the salvation that produces the obedience it commands. Don't get into this, “Let them decide for themselves”, or, “They'll figure it out, if they're elect”, mentality. Love them enough to be real, even as the Son is truthful to you.

I see men and women bringing their children to hear the gospel, making sacrifices, training them to sit under the word, and I see parents, if this is also lived in the home, doing the BEST they can do! You may not leave your sons millions of dollars or your daughters nice luxury homes, but if they see, by your example and instruction, the gospel doctrine, then you're leaving them eternal wealth and the greatest gift that you could give. Raise them to know God, and tell of His greatness: don't be shy. He says, “For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; that the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children, that they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments”. And, let every believer, when doors are opened, even slivers of openings, speak of Christ, so that others may be saved.

Secondly, it is foolish to unbelievingly question God's provision, as if He can't care for you, murmuring, and then seeking to satisfy yourself (vs9-22). He says, “And they tested God in their heart by asking for the food of their fancy. Yes, they spoke against God: they said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, He struck the rock, so that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?”

Be warned against unbelieving rebellion, which says, “He can't help me, so I won't love Him”. This is the devil's lie, because God is faithful to provide joy, peace, and power. He cares for you, and not you yourself. He makes the sun to rise, gives you air and food, and He provides everything that you have spiritually and physically, so that He's to be trusted and loved as the Provider who sacrificed His Son, so that He could give grace to many. Unbelief ruins us; it separates us from God, makes us walk by deceit and force, and it brings God's wrath against sin, “Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel, because they did not believe in God, and did not trust His salvation”.

God isn't to be challenged by our rebellion, as if His job is to be the magic genie for our ambitions. He is to be trusted as faithful to His word, because He has promised and faithfully given us Christ. It may seem your situation is too hard, etc, but not for God! If He could lead Israel, keep and feed them in the desert miraculously, then He can keep you, subdue your lusts, and give you contentment without giving you what you “want”, but need (Phil 4:19). God's grace isn't merely words on the page; it is the actual life experience of the believer, and it is to be walked in, or death will seize us.

Finally, don't think because all is well and you're happy that things are safe with your soul (vs23-31)! It says, “So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them their own desire. They were not deprived of their craving; but while their food was still in their mouths, the wrath of God came against them, and slew the stoutest, and struck down the choice men of Israel”. Many people judge God by how THEY feel and what they're doing, so that if I'm OK with the bills, love the wife, and the kids are healthy, then surely, God loves and smiles on me. But, it isn't so.

You may be the happiest man, finally getting that wife that you've craved, and drawing her near by hiding Christ. You may get the house, the scholarship, and much human approval, but it doesn't mean God is for you, because He can be against someone and GIVE them exactly what they want, destroying them while the thing they craved is still in their mouth and the taste of sin is fresh on their palate!

Don't judge by senses; judge by God's word. What am I to believe? The scriptures, all of them. What am I to live by? The word of God, every bit. How do I know that I'm safe? Not because you're happy, but because you're obedient, believing the gospel, walking by faith, and confessing that He can do what He has promised, even though you're sinful and weak. Rom 4:21-22 says, “and being fully convinced that what He had promised, He was also able to perform. And therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness”.

This GRACE of God produces holiness, and without holiness, happiness is nothing more than a temporary TRAP setting you up for wrath. He says, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14). Be wise. Believe and preach the gospel. Trust what's written, and you'll eventually experience unfettered peace.

“Live Long On The Earth” (Eph 6:1-3)

“Children obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.  Honor your father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that is may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.” (vs1-3)

Honor God because its best for you.  There is no reason to fight His love: He is kind, merciful, and He gives power - “He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increases strength” (Is 40:29).  He blesses the weak, helps the wicked, and saves by His obedience and strength; believe only.

Please, don’t stop short of inheriting life for free - He’s the pearl, the treasure, everything; He’s the Savior of the needy.  Wrath and pain are unbelief's inheritance, but we may have Christ.  He reveals His love, how He saved the church, and by faith you know he saved you - “And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus said unto them, Believe you that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yes, Lord.  Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you” (Matt 9:28-29).  You’re included!  This is great! This is love.  Obey Him, and it is sweet love you’re resting in, joy, and humble praise.  Thank God, don’t war with Him.  Love Him by obedience.  Love Him for salvation.

If you’re young and home with parents, obey them - “Children obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right” (Eph 6:1).  Respect their word, speak respectfully to them, and order yourself aright with them by obedience - “Honor your father and mother… that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth” (Eph 6:2-3).  Live for God’s honor in your character: be happy!

A Letter On Adoption: John Piper to his wife Noel

Dear Noël,

With confidence in the all-sufficient future grace of God, I am ready to move ahead with the adoption of Talitha Ruth. I want to thank you that during these years, when your heart has yearned to adopt a daughter, you have not badgered me or coerced me. You have been wonderfully patient. You have modeled faith in the sufficiency of prayer. You have always expressed support of me and my ministry even if we should never adopt. You have been reasonable in all our discussions and have come forth with your extensive rationale only when asked. You have honored my misgivings as worthy of serious consideration.

I realize more than ever that “the mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” I am persuaded that this decision to adopt honors God more than not adopting. To my perspective it seems to be the path that will “spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.” I believe it is the path of the greatest love. And therefore I have confidence that God is pleased with it.

I choose it not under constraint or with any reservation of commitment. I relinquish every thought that, because you initiated this idea, you will bear blame for the pain it brings. As with our choice to have children in the first place and with our choice to go to Germany and our choice to leave Bethel and enter the pastorate there is a common and united commitment to all that God will be for us in this path, including any “frowning providence” that he plans to sanctify to us. I believe our eyes are open, though we have learned that the toothache expected and the toothache experienced are not the same. We have come through enough to believe that God’s future grace will be sufficient. His mercies are new every morning and there will be mercies for every weight and wonder on this new path of our lives.

I thank God for you. I enter with you gladly on this path. Whether we live to see our daughter grown or not, we will have done well to take her in. Life is very short, whether 12 hours, like Ashley Hope, or 50 years like me, or 76 years like my father, or 94 years like Crystal Anderson. What matters is not that we do all we might have done or all we dreamed of doing, but that while we live, we live by faith in future grace and walk in the path of love. The times are in God’s hands, not ours.

With this common conviction we will, God willing, embrace our new daughter and give ourselves, with all the might that God inspires in us, to love her into the kingdom. May the Lord establish the plans of our hearts, and bring Talitha Ruth, and her future husband, into deep and lasting fellowship with Christ. May she be an ebony brooch of beauty around your aging neck, and a crown of purity and joy on your graying head.

* * *

Here are the final factors as I saw them and how a I weighed them as I wrote to myself in my journal.

1. Most importantly, and without which I would not be considering this matter seriously, is Noël’s heart’s desire. She has expressed it as the closest thing to a calling that she has ever experienced. She expresses openness to not doing it, and I believe means it, though I know it would be a great loss and a kind of death that would be grieved over for some time. In fact, as I compare the death that I must die and the death that Noël must die if we go one way or the other, it seems to me that my death is 1) not as sure as her death; that is, it is not certain that I would be less productive in writing, nor that the pain of this choice would be disadvantageous to the ministry and the glory of the Lord; and 2) even if my death came to pass, it is not as deep as her death would be. This is the main issue for me -- how shall I love my wife. If I say yes to adoption, it is mainly a yes to my wife’s longings and her sense of calling -- a yes that I may never turn against her in any form of blame, but rather a yes that becomes my yes, since we are one flesh.

2. Another way to say this is that adopting a daughter would give Noël the same privilege I have enjoyed, namely, the privilege of raising a person in her own female likeness. It is a precious thing to bring up a child with a view to building your God-given vision of manhood or womanhood into the child. Noël has not been able to build all of herself into our sons, because they are growing up to be men and not women. There are dimensions of human personhood that are unique to womanhood which I believe Noël will flourish in nurturing in a daughter.

3. Adopting would be a way of pouring our lives -- our vision of God and life -- into a child in the hope and prayer that she would grow up to make a great contribution to the advancement of the kingdom of Christ -- to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples. One of our reasons for having children back in the days when many were saying that world population did not warrant more than one or two kids, was that we would bring them up such that they would not be a drain on the world, but a blessing to the world. So it would be my prayer and effort in this case.

4. Adopting would model for the church and the world sacrificial risks of love, and faith in future grace. It would affirm and embrace sacrificial love above comfort and ease. It would declare that the latter years of life are not for coasting and ease.

5. It would actually cast us onto future grace in a way that would compel us to lay hold on God for more of himself that we would have otherwise known. There are other ways to do this. We could become missionaries to some hard place, for example, and thus cast ourselves on God more fully that way. But this is the way God seems to be leading Noël; and to know more of God’s sufficiency is a precious thing.

6. Adopting in this case would affirm and embrace racial reconciliation as an issue to be lived with and struggled with for the rest of our lives. It would write -- with blood, as it were -- the issue of racial reconciliation high on our life’s agenda.

7. In adopting a black child we would embrace and affirm the value of personhood in God’s image above racial distinctives. This is a crucial message for our day of cultural pride that may tend to minimize the utter uniqueness of humanity over against all other beings with a value as created in God’s image that is infinitely more important than any racial or cultural trait. We would be saying that being a human person is so indescribably important that it should take priority over race and culture in governing what is good for a child.

8. Adopting a child who has been painfully given up by her parents would be one clear way of obeying the Biblical call to care for the orphan: “This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27). Job’s example is inspiring and compelling: “If I have kept the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel alone, and the orphan has not shared it (But from my youth he [the orphan] grew up with me as with a father, and from infancy I guided her [the widow]) . . . (Job 31:16-18). We are not all required to adopt those who have no parents, or who are cut off from their parents, but as a church body we are to take up this challenge. That means that in the body of Christ, God must be able and willing to burden members of the body with this specific way of doing what the Bible says is needed.

9. By adopting this child we would embrace and affirm the preciousness of life over against the death-dealing industry of abortion. Talitha’s birth mother chose against abortion. We choose to affirm that choice. By this we put our money and our time and our lives where our mouth is. There are other ways to be real and serious about fighting abortion. But here is one that is necessary and therefore some families must do it. To do it is a good and powerful thing.

10. We would grow in our understanding of human personhood in the image of God by rearing a female person and not just male persons. There are experiences of becoming a woman that are different from becoming a man. We will be the richer and wiser for experiencing these things first hand. My voice in the world of manhood/womanhood relationships will be more insightful, I think, if we raise a girl for the glory of God.

11. We would grow in our understanding of God’s adopting love, that draws the very different into his family. I am the beneficiary of adoption. It was a precious and merciful thing the Father has done for me, taking me into his family. It is the sort of thing he delights in. Surely the ancient Jewish Midrash on Esther 2:5 is right in saying, “Who is he then who at any time shows mercy? Say: it is he who brings up an orphan in his house” (TDNT, Vol. 5, p. 488).

12. I am hopeful that my longing for being more fruitful in evangelism would be fulfilled in part by this adoption, in that it would open conversations with unbelievers, and would perhaps give us a voice of authenticity in circles of unbelievers that we would not otherwise have dealings with.

13. Noël’s ministry of writing and speaking would be enriched by this adoption because, as with mine, there would be a radical edge to it that mere, ordinary middle-aging would not have. Addressing issues of parenting, racial reconciliation, abortion, etc. would have a cutting edge quality and authenticity.

On the other side of the coin there are concerns:

1. I will probably not have as much freedom for study and writing and speaking and other forms of ministry, if we commit ourselves to parenting the young for the next 20 years.

2. There will be more emotional strain in our lives and greater burdens because love brings pain with every new person loved deeply, as each struggles with sickness and sin and Satan and danger -- both parent and child. This would be compounded by the fact that a black child will face unusual crises of self-identity, and in her crucial years our energy may be less as we move through our sixties than it is now .

3. There will be more stress and strain in the attitudes of other people that we would have to deal with because the child is black. Family and others may be disapproving and withdrawn.

4. There will be more financial stress.

Conclusion:

As I look at these two lists I cannot escape the conclusion that the potential for good in the “pro” list far outweighs the potential for ill in the “con” list. The cons are all pain and pressure issues, not issues of negative moral effects or sin. But the pros are mainly potentials of moral and spiritual good.

That my ministry of writing and study could be impeded could be seen as the hindrance of a morally and spiritually good thing. But that is very iffy. Jonathan Edwards had eleven children. His last seven years in the woods of Connecticut were his most productive, and he had children at that point in his life who were very small, not to mention that fact that when he was 47 he was removed from his pastorate and accepted a ministry among the Indians in a remote forest village.

Manifestly, productivity hangs far more on the wonderful and inscrutable providences of God and on the energizing work of the Holy Spirit and the pointedness of vision, than it does on our family circumstances. The Lord could end my productivity without children in one flick of his finger. And with adopted children, he could double it. May the Lord do what seems good to him.

Confessing Christ in Baptism (Young People)

by Librae Jackson, Deacon, The Gospel Church

The seriousness of taking up one's cross, and following King Jesus caused me to have some apprehension regarding the kids - like do they fully understand what it means - a life of surrender to Christ? It's enough of a struggle for us adults! Are they ready? But then the thought came to me - They're ready to think about college & stuff; surely they're ready to think about their souls! They're ready to consider their futures; surely they're ready to consider eternity! That thought encouraged me greatly, as I was reminded that the same Gospel that we live and thrive under is being preached to these smaller ears. Their frames may be smaller, but their souls are no less valuable, vulnerable, sinful or eternal.

I'm very thankful that they are under the sound of the true Gospel. This is the message that saves sinners! They need it just as much as I do! As I'm typing, I'm remembering when Christ said "Suffer the little children to come unto Me." I'm encouraged to pray and live for these little people with more importunity......God may save them!

I also rejoiced in the possibilities of their shining witness to the world. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have some young people who really believed?! Words can't express how splendid that would be! I would be very happy to see these youngsters follow Christ, and not squandering their young years on the world's deceitful, oppressive, temporary vanities. Didn't The Lord save Charles Spurgeon in his youth?

What a great thing to have: life! A couple of scriptural phrases that pop into my mind now are "more abundantly," "newness of life," and "he that has The Son has life."

The Commandments of Men (Matt 14:22-15:9)

“But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (vs9)

If we teach men’s doctrine, instead of Christ’s commands, then we can’t be saved, and that is the DANGER of false religion. It does no good to have false religion, because you and I can’t be saved, except by what the Lord Jesus says.

False religion makes you righteous by rules that men invent; true religion makes you righteous by FAITH in the blood of Christ. We RELY upon His blood to reconcile us to God, for Him to bless us now. True religion is FAITH in Jesus’ blood unto OBEDIENCE to His will.

What He commands, we are bound by. Paul wrote, “And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without the law” (I Cor 9:20-21). We have no power to live as we see fit, and we are chastened and taught with fear and trembling to seek after obedience. Now, we obey Christ, rather than men, serving God.

1. The Christ we obey, atoned and now intercedes between us and God – “And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone” (Matt 14:23). He is the Great High Priest who goes to God on our behalf, so that our Father deals with us IN CHRIST, rather than in our sins.

2. The Lord Jesus has power and authority – “And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea” (Matt 14:25). He conquered sin, so He’s been entrusted with all power for His obedience. He is God, so He ascends the throne to be praised, and the evil of the heart, the wrath of men, the anger of Satan, and all power MUST bow to Him and yield to His influence. Helpless He is not.

3. We are not to fear Christ as slaves, “But immediately Jesus spoke unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid” (Matt 14:27). He RANSOMED us from sin. Thus, the fear of death is taken away, and our HOPE is in God. With godly fear and trembling, we use Christ’s death to obey God, obtaining the Spirit – “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, uncleanness, evil lusts, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col 3:5). He pardons every sinner and forgives every sin that is washed in the blood of the Lamb. Scripture says, “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14). The RESULT of faith is CLEANSING.

4. We can do all things through Christ that strengthens us – “And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be you, bid me come unto you on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus” (Matt 14:28-29). If we live for God’s glory, using the gospel of His grace for power with God, then we have power. We have the Almighty’s help, if we have the Son’s blood and FAITH in His word. He enables us to do what human’s cannot, which is obey God and conquer the world, since He did.

We are imperfect sinners, and yet we follow Christ, which makes our obedience the more miraculous, because we know the evil that is here. Yesterday’s sin, though gone, will rise up even stronger throughout the day to lead me astray. Things I hate and renounce will become things I want to do in the flesh, SECONDS after REPENTANCE is given. We have miraculous power to conquer our sins by Christ Jesus, as we GO unto Him, looking to Him, and WALKING by faith in His love.

5. We may call upon the name of the Lord at any time – “But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me”(Matt 14:30). We are sinners, we have REPEATED our sins, and we are EXAMPLES of Christ who should know better. Never mind. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin, even the vile sin of pastors (I Tim 1:2).

We have a great burden to bear (willingly), and we bear it by the EXTRA mercy and pardon that He gives. Our consciences are wounded, sin is strong, and yet God gives REPENTANCE to the preacher, so he can preach unto the people.

6. Even though we doubt, He saves us, “And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O you of little faith, wherefore did you doubt” (vs31-32). He doesn’t deny us salvation because we’re sinners; He saves by the FAITH that we have, and the peace is actually given. Take His comfort, receive His love, and you shall taste the peace you squandered, which He’s GRACIOUS to give.

7. Washing hands has nothing to do with redemption, and neither does anything else not commanded – “for they wash not their hands when they eat bread” (Matt 15:2). We are not here to make the OUTWARD clean by what man says; we cleanse the heart, worship God by faith, trust in His love, and BRING sinners to CLEANSING, rather than the rituals of men.

Man must know how Christ makes us clean, and he is to be clean, he is not meant for religious games.

8. God’s law is serious, and those who don’t adhere to His word, shall be destroyed – “For God commanded, saying, Honor your father and mother: and, he that curses father or mother, let him die the death” (Matt 15:4). He didn’t write the gospel for no reason, nor the law. What the law commands MUST be satisfied, or the law will be answered with blood.

There is no pity to the law breaker by the law, and there is no license to sin in the gospel – “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right” (Eph 6:1).

9. Men’s traditions remove sinners from the glory of God – “Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition”(Matt 15:6). They teach what He won’t command, while NEGLECTING by necessity the things He does. You honor God by obedience to the word.

Man’s traditions mean nothing.