Mom the Evangelist

Monica, mother of Augustine, prayed for years that her brilliant but undisciplined son would be saved. When she sought the counsel of her priest, he listened as she poured out her heart of love and her intercession for this prodigal. At the conclusion, the priest said, "Go on! Leave me alone. Live as you are living. It is not possible that the son of such tears should be lost."


You know the Augustine story. Monica prayed that he would not go to Rome which was then such a wicked place. But he slipped away and went anyway. Monica never forgot ceased praying for her son. And Augustine came to Christ there.

Mothers are more than care givers, they are evangelists! The home is a little church within the larger church. Every father here is the shepherd of his home. Every mother is an evangelist of her children. Some might say a mother’s work is insignificant. That could not be farther from the truth. A mother has the most important work in the world. She is the child’s greatest evangelist. Jesus said, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14).

Many people have been radically transformed by what they learned at their mother’s knee. Consider John and Charles Wesley. Their names would probably never have lighted the pages of history if it hadn’t been for their godly mother who taught them that the law of love and Christian witness was to be their daily guide.

Susannah Wesley, who gave birth to 19 children, spent one hour each day praying for them. In addition, she took each child aside for a full hour every week to discuss spiritual matters with him or her. No wonder John and Charles were used of God to bring blessing around the world.

Fathers, we need to make sure our wives, the mothers of our children, are growing in Christ. We need to help them in their job. They are tools to transform the lives of Christ’s youngest disciples.

Call to Worship: Clay Pots

The following is our call to worship for Sunday, April 18, 2010.

Paul said, “I am what I am by the grace of God” (1 Cor 15:10). The Bible says that we are all clay pots that hold a very precious substance. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:7). What is special about us is not us. We are just clay pots—earthen vessels. We are special because we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

It has been said that the Roman Empire ran on olive oil. It was used in cooking, bathing, medicine, ceremonies, lamps, and cosmetics. For decades, olive oil from southern Spain was shipped to Rome in large clay jugs. Those jugs, not worth sending back, were discarded in a growing heap of broken shards known as Monte Testaccio. The fragments of an estimated 25 million clay pots created that man-made hill, which stands today on the bank of the Tiber River in Rome. In the ancient world, the value of those pots was not their beauty but their contents.

Because of this, the first-century followers of Christ would have clearly understood Paul’s illustration of the life of Jesus in every believer. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:7).

Our bodies, like those clay pots, are temporary, fragile, and expendable. In our modern world that highly values outward beauty; we would be wise to remember that our greatest treasure is the life of Jesus within us. By God’s grace and power, may we live so that others can see Christ in us.

We are just the clay pots. Jesus is the true treasure within us.[1]

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[1] Portions of this devotional are from David C. McCasland

Call to Worship: Robes of Righteousness

The following is our call to worship on Sunday, April 11, 2010. Sometimes we put a lot of emphasis on what we wear to church. But more important than your physical clothes are your spiritual clothes. We gather to worship Christ in our Robes of Righteousness.

We read in Isaiah 61:10, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.”

If you are saved, you are the Bride of Christ. You are robed in His righteousness! God says to all those who come to Christ in faith, “Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet” (Luke 15:22). Paul says that we are to “put…on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14).

Let us worship together with our white robes saints of God. There’s coming a day John says when all saints will all be gathered together in heaven. He says, “I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes” (Revelation 7:9).

We are clean today because of Jesus blood. We have His righteousness. We are holy because He is holy. Let us worship and adore Him who has cleansed our hearts and souls today.

Call to Worship: A Mirror to Magnify Jesus

The following is our call to worship for Sunday, March 21, 2010.

The apostle Paul had one driving ambition. He spelled it out in his letter to the Philippians: “…Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:20-21)

No matter what impossible situations Paul was subject to, he was determined that his life would be a mirror to magnify Jesus. He wanted to introduce the world to the risen Christ who lived in Him. We are gathered together today as mirrors to reflect the grace of Jesus.

You might not be able to see how Jesus could be magnified in your body.

o Our hands can magnify the Lord as we write letters of encouragement.

o Our feet can magnify Him as we go on simple errands of helpfulness.

o Our voices can magnify Him as we give our testimony and sing His praises.

o Our hearts can magnify Him as we express in prayer our love for the redeeming Christ.

o Our ears can magnify Him as we gratefully listen to sermons exalting His grace.

Let us magnify the Lord today with our whole heart, mind, soul, body, and all our strength.

"Things Done in Secret"

Our choir will be singing one of my favorite songs:

"Things Done in Secret"



1. He will not soon forget your work of faith;
And labor of love that’s done for His sake.
A cold cup of water that’s giv’n in his name,
One day from the house-tops the Lord will proclaim.

Chorus:
Things done in secret shall be made known.
When with the saints we will bow at His throne.
The books shall be opened, Your name He will call.
And things done in secret shall be made known to all.

2. Many slothful shall stand ashamed that day
When all of their talents are taken away.
But, oh, what rejoicing the righteous shall know,
When Christ shall return their rewards to bestow.

Chorus:
Things done in secret shall be made known.
When with the saints we will bow at His throne.
The books shall be opened, Your name He will call.
And things done in secret shall be made known to all.

3. Tho’ you serve in the shadows, Be faithful still,
Your steadfast devotion to follow His will
Shall not be forgotten, It’s all written down;
And one day your cross He’ll replace with a crown.

Chorus:
Things done in secret shall be made known.
When with the saints we will bow at His throne.
The books shall be opened, Your name He will call.
And things done in secret shall be made known to all.

Charles Spurgeon and Worldly Preaching

Here is a fantastic presentation by John MacArthur on the trend in today's churches to replace longer, solid biblically rich preaching with other more entertaining things that will tickle people's ears. Check it out (HT: Ameth Aletheia).

The Eternal Destiny of Infants, Young Children, and the Mentally Impaired

When I first came to the church I presently pastor, a dear sister in Christ had asked me a question that most people wonder about, “What happens to a mentally handicapped person when they die?” She had a special friendship with a dear person who was born with a severe case of Downs Syndrome. Her question is a very important one.

Difficult Questions

For that matter, we should also ask further difficult questions. What is the eternal destiny of infants and very young children who do not have the mental capacity to comprehend their accountability to God? How does one account for the fact that a baby is (as my wife puts it) both a “stinker” and very “precious” at the same time? How does the love, mercy, and justice of God come into play with people who are incapable of comprehending any revelation of God whatsoever? If we are all ‘made sinners’ because of Adam’s sin, how can babies go to heaven? (Romans 5:19).

These are all serious and important questions. My hope is to uncover what the Word of God teaches. In the end, I believe the Bible gives hope to all parents who have lost babies and little children and to those who have a child or a friend that is mentally handicapped.

All Infants are Participants in Adam’s Fall

I believe God is merciful to babies, little children, and the mentally handicapped, but not because they are innocent. I do believe babies and people born mentally impaired go to heaven when they die, but not because of a sentimental notion that babies are not participants in the Fall. There is no question that all humanity (being in the loins of Adam) participated in Adam’s Fall.

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous (Romans 5:12, 18-19).

According to the above verses, all humanity are participants in the Fall of Adam. What sin has an infant committed? The answer is none (Romans 9:21). Yet we know that all humans are brought forth through physical birth into sin and have a nature and proneness toward sin.

David states that we all come into the world as sinners: "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5, NASB, ESV). The word “brought forth” according to the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, means, “writhing in labor pains”.[1] The word “iniquity” means “to bend, twist, distort” or “to sin”.[2] We are all born with a crooked, selfish heart bent away from God. This verse is a good description in the Old Testament as to how we are “made sinners” through Adam.

Adam is the federal head of the human race, just as Christ is the Head of the “one new humanity”, His Body the Church (Ephesians 2:15).[3] Adam is the representative of the human race, and his sin is imputed to the human race so that all human beings will die, including some infants, and all in Adam are “made sinners” because of his decision to eat of the forbidden fruit (Romans 5:19).

We must be clear that this corruption is not God’s work, but it comes through our parents’ loins. “In Adam all die” (1 Corinthians 15:22; cf. Hebrews 7:5-10). Ephesians 2:2 says that all men are “children of disobedience” and “by nature the children of wrath”. We are all born with a nature that leads us astray. “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child” (Proverbs 22:15).

David says speaking of the wicked men who were persecuting him: “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies” (Psalm 58:3). This verse implies that the nature of people are fallen from their wombs. Matthew Henry says about this verse: “wickedness is bred in the bone with them; they brought it into the world with them; they have in their natures a strong inclination to it; they learned it from their wicked parents, and have been trained up in it by a bad education”.[4]

The Basis of Infant Death: Adam’s Sin

If babies were born innocent or pure or morally neutral, there would be no basis for their death. The very fact that infants die indicates that the sin of Adam has had an effect upon them. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 3:23). “The soul that sinneth it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4). Since an infant has done no sin in and of himself, why does he or she die? It is “in Adam” that “all die” (1 Corinthians 15:22). If an infant lives, he will, as soon as he is able, sin for himself. In Adam every child has a proneness to sin, has Adam’s sin and sinful nature imputed to him, and will therefore one day most certainly die. Adam’s sin is imputed universally so that it is absolutely certain that ten out of ten people will die. In our inherited sin nature the seeds of death are planted. So we must ask: If babies are not innocent then how does God deal with not only babies, but all persons that do not have the mental capacity to comprehend the depth of sin or the person of God?

The Age of Accountability

The Scriptures seem to infer that the judgment of God is based on a person’s ability to comprehend their own sin and their accountability to God. For infants and little children, we have come to call this age of comprehension, the age of accountability. We know that “unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48). We learn about sin and God through our conscience, through creation, and directly through the Word of God. If a person has none of these, we have to ask, is he or she accountable? Are babies, little children, and mentally handicapped people held accountable for Adam’s sin? Are they held accountable for sin if they do not have the capacity to understand what they are doing?

Only Those With Ability to Comprehend are Without Excuse

Let me say first of all regarding accountability of a child: Scripture is clear that all who have the capacity to comprehend God’s creation in nature are certainly without excuse. At what age that occurs, no one knows, but it is through nature we can comprehend the existence of God.

For what can be known about God is plain to them [that is, to mankind], because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse (Romans 1:19-20, ESV).

I believe this verse implies that those who cannot comprehend God through the creation because of mental incapability or whose conscience is not yet developed to discern sinful actions are safe. Only those who can have mental capacity are without excuse. All others are safe, even though because of Adam’s sin, they sin, yet without full knowledge.

A Baby Has No Works for God to Judge

All people are judged according to their actual works. A baby has committed no sins in the womb, and so he is safe. Romans 9:11 speaks of Jacob and Esau being in the womb “being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil”. Revelation 12:20 speaks of judgment day. John writes, “I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened…and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). The sin of Adam is not brought out, but they will be judged “according to their [own] works”. Children in the womb have done no wrong of their own. I believe we can imply that heathen nations from all around the globe who have had stillborn births and miscarriages will have their children in heaven. There will be a multitude without number.

Charles Spurgeon said, "I rejoice to know that the souls of all infants, as soon as they die, speed their way to paradise. Think what a multitude there is of them."[5]

Those Without a Developed Conscience are Safe

Those who have no knowledge of good and evil, who do not have a fully developed conscience, will not be held accountable even though they do evil.

Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it. But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea (Deuteronomy 1:39-40).

These verses imply that the younger a child is, the more he or she lacks knowledge of what is and is not sin. But we must be careful. This verse does not teach that little children do no good or evil. They simply lack knowledge that what they do is sin. These verses imply that infants and little children do not have a fully developed understanding of good and evil and hence lack the capacity to make morally informed and thus responsible choices. At what age are children accountable? The Bible does not say. It is probably different for each child.

The Bible Generally Indicates Infants are Safe

Scripture generally indicates that babies will go to heaven. When David says "I will go to him, but he will not return to me" (2 Samuel 12:23) after the death of his son, what else can he mean? That he will be buried next to his son? No, the joy and confidence that David has in this passage indicate that this baby went to be with God.

In Job 3:16-17, Job says he wishes he were like a stillborn child because they enter into rest. Job wishes he could die and go to heaven. Listen to his words: “as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest”.

Conclusion

It is because of the these reasons that I believe though children inherit a sinful nature from Adam, I do not believe that children will be judged for Adam’s sin.

(1.) Only those who can have mental capacity are without excuse (Romans 1:19-20).

(2.) People are judged according to their works. Babies in the womb specifically have no works (Romans 9:11).

(3.) Those who have no knowledge of good and evil, who do not have a fully developed conscience, will not be held accountable even though they do evil (Deuteronomy 1:39-40).

(4.) Scripture generally indicates that infants will go to heaven.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon summed it up best:

Among the gross falsehoods which have been uttered against the Calvinist Proper is the wicked calumny [slander] that we hold the damnation of little infants. A baser lie was never uttered. There may have existed somewhere in some corner of the earth, a miscreant [criminal] who would dare to say that there were infants in hell, but I have never met with him, nor have I met with a man who ever saw such a person! We say with regard to infants, Scripture saith but little, and therefore, where Scripture is confessedly scant, it is for no man to determine dogmatically, but I think I speak for the entire body or certainly with exceedingly few exceptions and those unknown to me when I say we hold that all infants who die are elect of God and are therefore saved! We look to this as being the means by which Christ shall see of the travail of his soul to a great degree and we do sometimes hope that thus the multitude of the saved shall be made to exceed the multitude of the lost.[6]

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[1]Harris, R. Laird ; Harris, Robert Laird ; Archer, Gleason Leonard ; Waltke, Bruce K.: Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. electronic ed. Chicago : Moody Press, 1999, c1980, S. 270

[2]Ibid.

[3] author’s translation

[4] Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1996), Psalm 58:3.

[5] Spurgeon. Autobiography, Volume 1, 175.

[6] Charles Spurgeon. Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 7, Sermon 385, “Exposition of the Doctrines of Grace” (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1861), 297.