Certain Hope in Our World of Uncertainty

Transcript

GR 2233
04/05/2020
Certain Hope in Our World of Uncertainty
Romans 8:18-25
Gil Rugh

Well, good evening and welcome to Sunday evening at Indian Hills. Indian Hills Church is meeting even though we’re not gathered physically together. We’re gathered together again around the Word of God. I thought that it would be good to continue in our Sunday evening service, which is our regular pattern, and get back into the Word of God in the evening, as well as the morning. So, I’m taking it by faith that many of our church family and others who join us on the internet are with us tonight. We’re going to be in Romans 8, but before we get in there, there are just a couple of things we’re going to do. The normal pattern on Sunday evening will be looking into the passage of Scripture in Romans 8, and then I’ll be taking time to address some of the questions that you have submitted. Let me just tell you, you can email questions to ihcc.org or you can text IHCC to 74121, and they’ll come in. If I don’t get to answer them tonight, because I have several questions that have come in, we’ll put them on the schedule for a future Sunday night. We’ll see how the evening goes. Other things; Easter is coming up next Sunday. We normally have a Good Friday service, but along with all the regular meetings of our church family, we will be cancelling our Good Friday service and will not be having those meetings until we’re given that the virus is under control and we’re able to meet again together. We trust that won’t be in the too-distant future. I just encourage you to continue to pray for the church family and have contacts. Phone, email, notes to one another, praying for one another, because the ministry goes on, of the Spirit in lives and through us in a variety of ways. Just for a reminder, Girls of Grace can download and print their lessons, so you can get on the internet and check the church website. Take advantage of these opportunities. Stop by Sound Words. If you need something to read, pick up some reading material. I would tell you to go out and take a nice walk. Go out and enjoy the fresh air. I don’t think there’s any virus in the air, as long as you’re not in contact with other people. So, take advantage of the break the Lord’s given us.

We’re going to Romans 8, so if you have your Bibles, we’re ready. We’re in the section of Romans dealing with sanctification. The book of Romans is logical in its unfolding. We started with the issue of condemnation to demonstrate the foundation that we’re all lost and guilty in our sin. That’s the condition that every one of us in the human race are in. We moved from there into how can lost sinners be declared righteous by a holy God. So, the justification God provided with the next section of Romans, chapter 3 verse 21 through chapter 5 verse 21. And then how those who have been justified by God are to live out the new life they have in Christ. A life that is indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and that’s basically what chapters 6, 7, and 8 of Romans are about.

Chapter 8 started out, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The justification provided by God through the death of His Son has moved us from those under the judgement of God for our sin, and now it has transferred us to be the children of God. And in Romans 8:14, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” We can call God our Father. Verse 16, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God…” And what does it mean to be a child of God? It means to be God’s heir. All that He has promised and provided for those who belong to Him are now heirs. We are heirs with Christ, who is the Son of God in the unique way that only He is, and He is the one who has brought us into sonship by the provision of salvation.

Then verse 17, “…and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…” It doesn’t get any better than that. But note, “…if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” Remember, when you become a child of God, you become a disciple of Christ, a follower of Him. Jesus, during His earthly life, said count the cost. It could cost you everything that you have in this life. It may cost you your physical life, but you gain eternity. He moves it into the suffering, and Scripture presents a balanced and realistic view. All we have, we are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” We have eternal life. We can call God our Father. But there is suffering to be endured. “…if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may be also glorified with Him.” Now that’s not salvation by works, but anyone who truly belongs to Christ will suffer in that relationship and because of that relationship.

There are two realms of suffering in the world. There’s the general suffering that everyone goes through. We have that with the virus we’re dealing with now. It can afflict unbelievers, and it can afflict believers. It afflicts those who are not God’s children by faith in Christ, and it can afflict those who are God’s children. And other general things that come. Some believers may lose their jobs in times like this. Wars come and disasters come. Part of what we might call general sufferings that go on in a fallen, and part of God dealing with a fallen creation. And we are part of this world, living here physically. So those things come to us as they come to everyone else.

But then there’s the specific sufferings that come to believers because they belong to Christ. Remember Jesus said in John 15 in preparing His disciples when He would be leaving. If they hated Me, they will hate you. That’s the situation. When we become God’s children, we become the enemies of Satan. We’re placed now in a conflict with the children of the devil, who follow their father the devil. Remember John 8, verse 44, where Jesus conflicts with the religious leaders of His day and He says, “You are of your father the devil...” They hate Christ. They want to kill Christ. That’s what we’re brought into as believers. So, salvation doesn’t necessarily mean a comfortable life. You know, God wants you healthy and wealthy, is sometimes taught. Now you’re the child of God. He just wants to give you all good things. He is going to give us all good things, but like the apostle Paul, life became more difficult for him when he became a believer. He became characterized by suffering, rejection, and so on.

So how do we deal with the problems of this life? Whether it comes with the general sufferings or the intensified opposition that comes because we are followers of Christ? That’s where he picks up at the end of verse 17 in Romans 8. How do I deal with these sufferings? Do they catch me off guard? Am I discouraged or depressed by them? Verse 18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” That word “consider,”[RG1] logizomai, can be an accounting term. You’ve given this careful thought. You’ve considered it. You’ve evaluated it, the evidence. The truth of the Word of God. That’s what Paul said, I’ve considered it. I’ve thought it through carefully. This isn’t just a rational jumping into something. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time…” I love the way it’s put. We have the translation, which is good, “this present time”, but it’s literally, “of the now time”. That gives you an emphasis on the temporariness[RG2] of it. This is the now time. And the sufferings of the now time can’t be compared to the glory that is coming, that is to be revealed to us. There’s no comparison. It doesn’t matter what a person suffers in this life, or how much they suffer. Maybe as a martyr for Christ, as many have through church history. But that’s nothing compared to the glory God has prepared for those who belong to Him. That will be revealed to us. That will become our glory when we’re glorified in his presence.

We need to keep the present time in perspective with the future time, what is most important. We talked about that in our study earlier today in Titus. It doesn’t really matter[RG3], male or female, slave or master, what is of utmost importance is our relationship with the living God and our faithfulness to Him and His word. And that’s true, in this now time. That’s why the general catastrophes that come, they don’t shake us in our faith. We may lose everything we have in this world, even our life. But that’s all right. I haven’t lost anything of eternal value. That’s the comparison he’s doing, the glory to come and the sufferings of now. Whatever they are, and however they come. If we’re not careful, we as believers get swept up in the agonizing of the world. That doesn’t mean it’s a light thing to get a serious illness, to have financial stress. Those things bring pressure to us. The pressure is not bad. We’ll talk about that before we’re done with chapter 8. We won’t get there tonight, but we will get there. This is all part of God’s plan to mature us, to strengthen us, and to prepare us for the glory that He’s promised. We don’t want to get too attached here. This world is not our home. We’re just a-passing through, as the song says. As we’re told in Hebrews, we are strangers and pilgrims. We have a treasure beyond here. What Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, we lay up treasures for ourselves in Heaven. I may lose all that’s considered valuable here, but I haven’t lost anything of value, eternally speaking. That doesn’t mean it may not be very painful.

Turn to 2 Corinthians 4. We wonder what’s kept Paul going. Well, this very thing. Look at verse 16 of 2 Corinthians. “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, (this physical body) yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” It’s seeing a perspective. Even in the worst of situations, I can be growing stronger and more settled and secure in my relationship because I’m maturing. “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying…” And it is. if nothing else, but the passing of time and the coming of age. I read somewhere where we reach our peak in our twenties. We get up there quickly, and then it is a perpetual slide down. Paul’s sufferings were intensified greatly. He shared those in his first letter to the Corinthians. “…yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” We get new strength every day. Every day I get stronger within. Even though it looks like my physical body may be going down rapidly, ravages of disease, of time, of whatever. But, inwardly, note how he puts it. Remember the now time compared to eternal glory. We get this. “For momentary, light affliction…” That’s what this time is. It’s momentary. It’s light. We’re here in God.

How would you put on the scale of eternity the brief years of this life and the sufferings associated with it? It’s momentary. It’s light affliction. We’ll say, “Well, you don’t know what I’ve gone through.” No, but I know what the Scripture says, and my affliction may be a time where I say, “Lord, this is more than I can bear.” Then I’m reminded and I say, “Well, no Lord You promised You won’t give me more than I can bear.” And I’m growing. I’m being renewed in my inner strength because I’m learning to trust Him and grow in my trust in Him. “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison…” Again, you see this now time. Eternal glory. This momentary, light affliction. An eternal weight. Light, momentary affliction. Eternal weight of glory. How do you compare them? You know, you put the momentary, light afflictions that come in this life on the scale, then you put on the eternal weight of glory, it’s like a speck of dust on the scale. It doesn’t move it. Time, it seems, but that’s why we think beyond time to what God has promised. This happens when? Note, “…while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen…” You see, we’re looking with the eyes of faith. “…for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Peter used the same arguments, remember; all these things are going to be burned up. So, don’t hold them tight to your heart. That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the things God gives us and the things we have. He’s given us all good things to enjoy, and we’ve been blessed and prosperous, but we don’t want that to make us weak spiritually. Sometimes we get soft in the good life, and then we get soft spiritually. If you noticed, there can be a declining interest in the things of the Lord and the Word of God because our life gets so busy with the things of this life. We want to be careful. The things which we see are temporal no matter how wonderful, how much we enjoy them, but they won’t be here long. They’ll be gone. But the things that God has prepared for us in glory will last forever.

Come back to Romans 8. Paul is just repeating himself, as the Spirit of God is repeating the message from one church to the other. It’s easy for us to pull our eyes down and get absorbed in the problem and the suffering and the difficulty that’s right before us today. And then I lose my perspective for what is ours in glory. And now what he’s going to do is show that all creation is moving toward the climax and conclusion of what God has promised for us as His children. Even the inanimate creation anticipates what is going to happen when we’ve received all that God has promised for us. Note what he says in verse 19. “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” Now, we’re already the sons of God, but we have not been unveiled and revealed before all creation. He said up in verse 14, which we read earlier, “…all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Verse 16, The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God…” That’s what we are. That’s my true identity. And now the anxious longing. This word, it really pictures something put together. It pictures that you’re just stretched out. As “creation waits eagerly”, you just can’t wait for it. It’s looking to that, as it personifies creation here. Waiting until we are unveiled as the sons of God. Now we’re somewhat hidden. I’m wearing this veil of flesh, and it’s declining. It’s decaying, as Paul said. Well, you don’t look any different than anyone else, but there will come a time when we will be unveiled with the glory that cannot be compared. The revealing of the sons of God, that’s going to be when we get our glorified bodies and we’re presented before all creation. Revelation 19, where we’ll come for the marriage of the Lamb and the supper that will be. We’re unveiled as the children of God.

Why is this going on? Verse 20, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope…” In other words, the creation didn’t make the decision that made the Fall. The trees didn’t sin. The animals didn’t sin. Man sinned. But when Adam sinned, all the creation was impacted by the Fall. We go back to Genesis. Now the ground’s producing thorns. Man’s job is going to be difficult. Now there will be opposition from the animal world. The deterioration spread to all creation, not just humanity, but every part of creation is affected by it. The trees die. The ground doesn’t produce as God originally created it to. It’s subjected to futility. Frustration, temporariness, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it. It was God’s plan, and the one He put to rule over creation, to be the head of creation if you will, did what? He sinned. And the result of that sin impacted everything else. “…but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”

You see, we’re moving toward the work as we saw in Romans chapter 5 particularly, where Christ is the second Adam. And in Him there is redemption and forgiveness. So that now the potential is there for creation to be restored to the glory it was created to have. That can only happen in the context of the children of Adam, who would become the children of the second Adam—Christ. Now, having the fulness of the glory God’s prepared. I’m still, so to speak, trapped in this physical body. Don’t go too far with that to platonic thinking of the separation of the soul and the body. But this body, it’s going down. I have a renewed spirit, a renewed heart, a new man, but it can’t stop the fact that I’m getting old. As Paul said, the outer man is decaying. There’s a part of the physical that has not yet experienced the power of God’s redeeming grace, and that’s seen in all creation. Look at the destructive things that come with tornados, hurricanes, floods, and everything else. It’s all waiting. There is a hope that it “…will be set free from this slavery to corruption…” the impact of sin, “…into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” You see what God has prepared for us, will have its impact on all creation? Then creation, the curse will be lifted. Then the desert blossoms like the rose or the crocus. Then we see something of the glory, the freedom the creation has, to display all that God created it to display. That’s a freedom. Now it’s enslaved to corruption. Following the masters of creation, so to speak, humanity.

Verse 22, “For we know that the whole creation…” all creation—the trees, the animals, everything, the inanimate creation, “…groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” It’s pictured like a woman about to give birth, it’s the pains of childbirth. It’s another picture. We’re waiting like that lady is in labor for the birth of that child. We’re waiting for the revealing and unveiling of the children of God in their glory. When Heaven opens, and here we are the bride of Christ coming in the redeemed bodies. That’s what creation is groaning for. This is a time of pain and suffering, but it’s not the ultimate end, and it’s not that man has the power to change that. Again, we do things that make life more livable. We purify the water. We do these things. We’re glad for that. We’re glad for how diseases and so on have been brought under control, but we still can’t deal with it. The psalmist said what? We have seventy years, and maybe you’ll get to eighty years old, but there will be pain and suffering that goes with it. We read the book of Ecclesiastes and studied it. It’s just part of this life. But that’s not the end. We’re in this time and all creation, and you see the importance that God has placed on His children. None of that can happen until My children are unveiled and displayed with their glory. Now the creation is groaning.

Let’s get back to us. “And not only this, but also we ourselves…” We believers, we are God’s children. “…having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” Now up in verse 15, he said, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” We have become part of God’s family. We’ve been born again. We are now God’s children by the new birth through faith in the salvation Christ provided. But we look forward to that time when we will be fully placed and revealed to all creation as God’s sons. That would be the final step, if you will, in our adoption. We’re already the children of God but we’re not yet all that we will be. Already, not yet.

Some people misunderstand “already, not yet”. I was reading some material by some good dispensationalists, but they talk about an already, not yet hermeneutic and how bad that is. I wish we’d quit talking about hermeneutic in the singular with a collective plural, and just talk about the rules of hermeneutics. “Already, not yet” misuses the rules of literal hermeneutics when it comes to the kingdom. That’s the problem, but literal hermeneutics tells me I’m already a child of God, but I am not yet all that I will be. 1 John 3 says the same thing. We’re the children of God, but there’s a change because when we see Him, we’ll be transformed, and we’ll be like Him because we’ll see Him as He is. That’s coming. I’m not afraid to talk about “already, not yet” because by literal hermeneutics, the rules of hermeneutics I follow consistently, show me as a child of God, I am already. But they also show me that the kingdom has not yet begun. So, what you abandon, consistency in your rules of hermeneutics, you will end up in confusion. But it’s not an “already, not yet” hermeneutic. It frustrates me, so I have to share my frustration.

There’s something yet in our sonship. Let’s be honest, I take my medication. I try to do a little bit of exercise and walk to keep this body going. I said to Marilyn today, “You know, I think my back may be going out.” I was hoping for sympathy, but she said, “Well, stretch it.” These things come. You know what we are to be? We have the Spirit within us, and He nourishes us with His word. And as we grow in it, we anticipate even more eagerly what the Spirit is going to do, because He is the seal of God within us, guaranteeing that God is going to complete what He has started. He who has begun a good work in you, as Philippians 1 said, will continue to bring it to perfection in the day of Christ Jesus. That’s what we have as our hope, our goal. That’s why sometimes the difficulties of this world just sharpen that in us, doesn’t it? When you have some physical problems, you say, ‘boy, I’m going to be glad when I get a glorified body.’ Pressures of life come, and I say, ‘oh, I wish the Lord had come today.’ These things are good for us. That’s why James 1 says count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into all kinds of trials. Because that’s what produces maturity. The Scripture is constantly reminding us of this, and it keeps us from getting too planted here. Too comfortable here. What do we say in Ecclesiastes? We say that we can have pleasure in living, but we don’t live for pleasure here. We’re living every day here with anticipation of what God promised us, and we want to be careful that we don’t allow that sharp edge of anticipation to get dulled. That happens when believers in churches get too comfortable, too at ease. Then our life gets filled with other things. There’s so much here for us. I want to remind myself there’s nothing here I want to hold tightly. What the Puritans say, you don’t want to keep it too close to your heart because it will corrupt. That’s what he’s reminding them of. There are no great secrets here. It’s just the basic, open truths of the Word that sometimes come to us and hit us in the face because somehow, we became dull and weren’t paying attention and forgot. That’s why we’re reminded again and again and again. We’re waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons.

Come to 1 Corinthians 15:34. Paul warn us in verse 33, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’” Church ought to be more careful[RG4] in teaching that. It is what he’s telling them. “Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning…” Think clearly. Sounds like Titus, doesn’t it? God is gracious. He’s our heavenly Father. Just like you do with your kids, you don’t tire, you remind them. You remind them. You remind them. You tell them, you weren’t paying attention. You shouldn’t have forgotten. Then you remind them again. Well, God does. “…for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.” The truth of God has to permeate our lives and permeate our church.

“But someone will say, ‘How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?’” Because they had allowed in the church at Corinth people who denied actual, bodily resurrection to come. And they come with logical arguments. How do you think that body that God burned to ashes and then spread out on the oceans is ever going to be brought back together? And how could you, you’ve had three and what are you going to do when the resurrection comes and how are you going to be married if he had more than one family? And all these kinds. I don’t know what the answer to that would be. You know, sometimes Paul, under the direction of the Spirit, can lose patience. Like the prophets of the Old Testament did. You fool! Think of that. When I say, “Does anyone have any questions?” If my response to a question was, “You fool!” But there ought to be that kind of response to those who infiltrate our church who are denying biblical truth. You’re an unthinking person. What he’s saying is you’re mindless.

“You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain…” That’s what this is, just a bare grain. “…perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh…” And he compares the different kinds of flesh. Verse 40, “There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another of the moon…” and so on. Verse 42, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”

You get the point? Quit asking and being open to those mindless questions. “The first man, Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit…” You see the two Adams. We had that in Romans 5. Although here, you understand what the work of the second Adam is, how and He’ll bring a glory to you and your body that you can’t grasp on to right now. There will be a glory suitable for the glory of God’s presence. Verse 46, “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.” And on he goes, and then he’s going to talk about the mystery of the resurrection, and the resurrected body. I don’t have the answer to every detail—none of us do. But I believe everything God has revealed to me. He just knows that in this present condition, I’m not able to grasp. I’ve got my hands full with what He revealed! And my life is getting into its closing days, and I haven’t been able to master everything here. What would I have done if He’d have given me a thousand volumes? I’d despair. He graciously condensed that revelation and gave it to me in a form that could be understood, and the Spirit to instruct me so I could learn and grow. That’s what we have to look forward to, the redemption of the body.

While you’re this far back in your bibles, come over to Ephesians 1. We’re going to have to wrap up here in Ephesians 1, verse13. I referred to this passage, I just want you to see it. Verse 13, “In Him, (referring to Christ) you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge (a down payment, a guarantee) of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory” That’s what he’s doing. We have the Spirit. How do you know? I have the Spirit of God within me. I have the promises of the Word of God.

Come back to Romans 8 as we pull this together. We’re looking to the redemption of the body, verse 24, “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” So, you see, that these are days of old. No, I haven’t seen heaven! No, I’ve never seen a resurrected person! What do you have? I have the promises of God, and my hope is in what He has promised and that gives me perseverance. Perseverance. That’s what tests our faith. A lot of people fall off because their faith wasn’t real, and they have no perseverance. The perseverance of the saints is a biblical truth. If you don’t remain, they were not of us. Therefore, they left us, 1 John says. If they had been part of us, they would have remained with us. He’s not just talking about a believer leaving a Bible-believing church for another, he’s talking about those who have stepped out, have departed.

Our hope gives us perseverance. What sees us through dark days, discouraging times? Times of pain and suffering and loss. Rejection. What enabled martyrs to go to the stake? Because having their bodies burned up, chopped up, torn apart couldn’t touch their hope. Matthew 10:28, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” We get difficult times, so what if our country collapses? Who said God has guaranteed the United States an ongoing, comfortable life? Maybe we’re getting near the end of the comfortableness of life in this country. Maybe it will go down and not come back up. Sometimes preachers go, ‘We have hope. We know God is going to bring us through this. He promises to bring His people through everything, even in its martyrdom.”

But He’s not promised to bring this country through, a country that continues to defy Him, reject Him. I want to keep my hope where the hope is. This is a hope for those who have been transformed by the grace of God. The unbeliever has no hope. A country apart from God, what do they have? We want to speak truth. We want to bring comfort and hope to people. I’m going to bring truth to people. I don’t want to make them comfortable on the road to hell. I don’t want to tell them lies because they’ll like me better. “Oh, he’s the kind of preacher we like. He gave us hope when we were going through that time of difficulty.” But you know, we know the truth. There’s coming a time you’re not going to get through it. The plagues and judgements and everything coming in the Tribulation, you’re not going to overcome it. Nations come and nations go. They become defiant in their opposition of God and God judges them and replaces them. The cycle goes on, but it’s deteriorating. Don’t lose your focus on the hope.

Let’s have a word of prayer together, then I’ll address some of the questions that have come. Thank You Lord, for the riches of Your Word. It’s Your truth. We hold onto it. It is our hope, our hope is in Christ and all that is revealed in Your Word about Him and what You’ve provided for us in Him. And apart from Him there is no hope. There is no salvation. You are the saving God. You’ve provided a salvation for all men, but all men, tragically, will not be saved. Lord, for we who have placed our faith in Christ, we have our hope in Him and the promises found in Him. Lord, may we be manifesting endurance, unshakeable confidence, and trust in all You’re doing and all You bring into our lives. And even as You are going to explain to us as we further proceed in the study of Your Word in days ahead. Bless the rest of the evening. Bless our church family wherever they are. Watch over them in these days. We pray in Christ’s name, amen.

Alright, I have a few questions that have come in. So, let me address some of those and then I’ll see if I have time for some others. Let me address a question here. Is physically disciplining our children a biblical command or just a best practice, as many of the Proverbs are? Proverbs are general truths. They’re not a guarantee in every situation. But the instructions given are good instructions. In other words, we should train up our children in the way they should go. That won’t guarantee in every case that they will come out godly children, because the external can’t change the internal. That has to be an action of the Spirit on the heart and the response of that person. But it’s not just good advice to train them up in the way they should go. That is a responsibility. Disciplining our children is a responsibility, and the Bible says if you love your children, you will discipline them diligently. There ought to be a consistency in our discipline. That means you don’t spare the rod and spoil the child, as we put it. Physical discipline is biblical. That’s not beating your children. Everybody takes it to the extreme, but appropriately spanking a child is not the same as beating a child. It’s the village witch doctors, and it’s the psychologists who are village witch doctors these days, who come up with ideas, ‘well, then a child learns it’s alright to hit other people.’ I’m old enough to have gone to school in days when they spanked you at school, as well as at home. I never thought that the teachers were teaching us that it was alright to hit someone else. In fact, when you got spanked, whether at school or at home, you learned it was not pleasant to do the wrong thing. And if you hit another student when you shouldn’t have, you got spanked at school and then you got spanked at home, when that parent called and said, ‘you know, your child hit my child.’ I didn’t learn that you learned to hit. Where did that come from? It came from the thinking of unregenerate man.

We want to be careful when we talk about men and women, and men are to be leading in their homes. We want godly women, we want godly men, and we want to be helping in our homes. The men ought to be helping the wives, but they’re supporting the wives. So, I don’t think Proverbs are just good advice, but the Word is. It’s not a guarantee that everyone is going to…I’ve never seen, I’m young, now I’m old, but I’ve never seen the righteous begging. But there are times when righteous people are put in prison and starve to death. I was reading some of the martyrs here in the last couple weeks. Put in prison and then almost forgotten, and in their days, they didn’t have anyone to take care of them. They didn’t care. But the truth is, God takes care of us. We have a plague since we’ve stopped using proper discipline in the home. Have you noticed? Discipline in the schools breaks down, discipline in the world breaks down, and the kids don’t know what to do with themselves. They’re left to themselves. They’re little sinners. Rebellion is in their heart. Foolishness is brought up and bound up in the heart of a child. The rod of discipline will drive it far from him.

Don’t look for reasons to say, Well, I don’t know if I want to spank my child. I’ll do something else. Raising our kids, I went to the book of Proverbs, and I said, Lord, what You’ve said has to be true. I couldn’t guarantee my children are going to get saved. I could only do what my responsibility was. Discipline them diligently. I think in disciplining, you ought to go to the book of Proverbs. Throw out the Doctor Spock of the old days and everything else that’s come out. I don’t know if my parents ever read a book on raising children. In those days, you learned it from your parents and your grandparents and nowadays, nobody knows. Oh, what am I going to do? I can’t control my two-year-old! Well, you’re 6’2”, 240 pounds, and you lift weights, and you don’t know how to control a two-year old? Someone ought to spank you! Proverbs is not just good advice. It is instruction for life. But be careful, don’t carry it beyond what it says. I can’t guarantee outcomes. Only God has control of that. I need to fulfill my responsibility. I tell you, if you’re not disciplining, and that doesn’t mean every time they do something wrong it has to be a spanking. There are certain things, mixed kinds of discipline, but if you never use spanking, you’re probably…I went to the book of Proverbs and said, Lord, this is what You’ve said. This is what I’m going to do. This is what I have to do. I want to do it properly, not in anger. I want to explain to them why it has to be, and of course you’ll get, I’ll never do that again. I hope not, because then I’ll have to spank you again. But this spanking is for what you did. Now let’s get it over with. So, I don’t think it’s just, add the book of Proverbs with other advice. I think the book of Proverbs is clear instructions on life.

If a new believer wanted a study Bible, what do you recommend? I think we want to be careful with a new believer, and a study Bible can be a help. I appreciate that. But we want to remember it’s the text of Scripture that’s inspired. Sometimes, buying them what we call a study Bible, with the comments of men underneath to maybe give explanation, but don’t get them confused. A new believer needs to understand the text of Scripture is the Word of God. These are comments of how men may clarify what is said there. Sometimes they’re right; sometimes they’re wrong. I prefer the Ryrie Study Bible if I was going to use one. In fact, I almost did. I don’t personally use a study Bible. But there was a time when I considered if I was going to use a study Bible. I would use the Ryrie Study Bible. Probably our congregation is divided on those who use the Ryrie and those who use the MacArthur Study Bible, and both are men are whose theology we appreciate. What I like about Charles Ryrie, he had the gift of conciseness, and he wrote his Bible as a study Bible. I think I prefer the notes in a study Bible to be less rather than more, and that’s true of his study Bible. I mean, when you’re in the Old Testament and you’re new to Scripture, and you’re reading in the prophets and they’re talking about Assyria and Babylon, it helps to have an explanation. Maybe the dates when they’ll tell you about a king, and you can look at the footnote and say, this king was at this. Some of those things are helpful.

But I’m less comfortable with the MacArthur Study Bible, particularly the New Testament. The Old Testament in the MacArthur Study Bible was done by the professors in the seminary, and those notes, if you look through his study Bible, are much briefer. In the New Testament, they had MacArthur’s sermons, so they edited those and put them in, so on many pages you’ll have a little bit of Scripture text and it becomes more of a commentary than I would expect and like in a study Bible. You don’t want to become tied to one person’s opinions and ideas and the more that’s said, the more room there is for error, and some of the notes there, I think, are wrong and not an explanation of Scripture, but are contrary to Scripture. That’s not a blanket. I’m not saying throw out your MacArthur Study Bible. But he’s moved to some reformed areas and I think the notes, he’s changed his views on some things. So, all I’m saying is, when you get too much of a commentary instead of just brief notes, there’s more room for error, and all of us are growing. He used to hold to the incarnational Sonship of Christ and denied the eternal Sonship, and that comes up in some of his stuff. He’s since written a letter saying he’s come to understand the eternal Sonship of Christ and holds to that. So that’s why I say we want to be careful with the notes. I prefer less, even when I was a student in Bible college. Charles Ryrie was the president the first year and I remember some of the professors would remark, ‘You know, one of the gifts Dr. Ryrie has is the ability to be concise and clear.’ I appreciate his writings. So, I would give them a Ryrie Study Bible if you want to give them a study Bible. That might help them in their notes. Again, I’m not attacking the MacArthur Study Bible. We carry it and his notes are basically dispensational, which we appreciate, and you can get his commentaries, so you’re familiar with him.

I have several good questions here. Let me just do one here. Is it proper to understand Genesis 2:24 as leave and cleave, particularly, when a couple gets married? (“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”) Is it proper to understand the parents should allow the couple to make their own decisions for their family rather than continually asking for parental advice? What about parents being cautious and providing unsolicited advice? We just want to understand how this verse in Genesis applies to these situations. What does apply? Leave and cleave. A man should leave his parents and cleave to his wife. And yet interesting the way it’s put. In the Old Testament usually the wife left her family and joined the husband’s family, but the point is, there is a separation and a transition. The focal point is no longer the parents, it’s the wife. For the wife will no longer belong to the parents. She’s her husband’s. Now, that’s a learning experience and I can speak from experience. For all sides. Parents need to learn to let go. The first responsibility of their son is now to his wife. The first responsibility of my daughter is now as the wife to her husband. Sometimes parents should learn to keep their mouths shut, because they’re ready to tell them what they do and how to do it and still want to control their life. Now there are new responsibilities. The husband should realize, my first responsibility is to my wife. We have responsibility to our parents and the wife has responsibility, but both have responsibility for both parents now. You’ve married into both families, so to speak. But you have to realize, number one responsibility is the wife to her husband, the husband to the wife. Scripture makes that clear. It’s an adjustment. I’m not acting to please my parents first; I’m acting to please my spouse first. And the parents should realize, I don’t want to put pressure on those kids. Well, I think they ought to be doing this. I wanted to get advice from my parents. They were good telling me, you know, you have to make your own decisions. Sometimes they’d give me advice. Well, I can tell you what I think the dangers or problems that could come with that, but you and Marilyn will have to make that decision. We want to be careful that we’re somewhat hands-off, and you want to push your kids to independence, and that would be if you think they’re coming to you for every detail. You don’t want to foster that. Sometimes it makes you feel good and more needed and important, but you want to push them closer. Well, I think it’d be better for you two to work that out together. You might suggest some material if they’re going to buy a house or do something. You can give them advice, but you want them to know, these are your decisions and you’re responsible for them, and you’re helping to push them together. Like my dad told me, I use him because he’s in glory now, my parents are gone and it’s not quite as personal as I use things from my own family that are here. But he told me the night before I got married, you cannot come back to this house without Marilyn. I said, what do you mean by that? You’re welcome to stop. I worked, we had an apartment in Pennsylvania and I worked in New Jersey and my parents worked in New Jersey and down the road from where I worked; so I’d sometimes stop at their house on my way to work because I didn’t have to be to work for a couple hours, but I had to come to New Jersey to work. They didn’t mean I couldn’t come to visit. But this is not your home, and you can’t come here because you’re trying to get some space from Marilyn. He knew how difficult she was going to be. You can’t come here and talk about her. You can’t come here and complain about her. You have to work things out with her, and you’re both always welcome here. That’s good advice, because sometimes you get into things you disagree on. You’ve brought two sinners together, even redeemed sinners, and now we have to adjust to each other, and little things that I didn’t think would aggravate me, I can’t understand why that person does it. Well, you can’t go home to mom and dad and say, this really gets on my nerves when she does this. It was good my parents wouldn’t allow me to do that. You’re not allowed to talk like that here, so I think you’d better go back home. Not that I ever tried to. So, those kinds of things, I think, it means you see the commitment is to each other. Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes it’s a mother and son that have a special relationship; a father and daughter; a mother and daughter. You know, you have close relationships. It’s a big decision. You’re getting married. The world changes. You look at the biblical times. They left home. Now I’m putting myself under the leadership of this man. As man, I’m taking responsibility for this woman.

So alright. That’s a little bit of that. We have some other good questions. If you have them, text them in. Email them in. If they pile up, then I’ll take a whole evening and we’ll just do questions. We’ll look at that.

Let’s have another word of prayer. Thank You Lord, for the day, the time together as a church family. We’re not physically together, but spiritually we are. Your Spirit has used Your Word in our lives as we’ve gathered around it as a church family. Bless us in these days ahead. Give wisdom. Lord, give strength. Give protection, and I ask this with the confidence that You are the God who loves us. You’re our heavenly Father. You’ve promised to always take care of us, so we commit the days before us to You. In Christ’s name, amen.
[RG1]Greek here. 09:13
[RG2]This is what he says….9:53
[RG3]I think this is what he’s saying
[RG4]Can’t make this part out 32:57. Could be, “and he keeps with what he’s telling them.