WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.100 seated. Well, good morning, church. Our sermon text today is Colossians chapter 3, verse 17, 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:13.179 through chapter 4, verse 1. That's page 984 in the Pew Bible. Let's go ahead and turn there together. 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:18.199 As James mentioned, this morning is something of a special Sunday because we have three people 00:00:18.199 --> 00:00:24.359 getting baptized. Now, baptism in the New Testament is the means of publicly professing 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:29.440 faith in Jesus Christ. It's an outward sign that through trusting in Jesus, we've been 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:33.780 cleansed of our sin, we've been raised to new life in Him, and we've been made a part of His body, 00:00:33.859 --> 00:00:39.079 His church, and the world. And part of what baptism is meant to do, part of the reason why Jesus gave 00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:47.240 us baptism is as a way of speaking assurance to our hearts. Baptism is a word of assurance from God that 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:54.880 His promises of grace in the gospel are as real and as certain to us as this wet water that washes over 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:58.780 us. It's a beautiful thing. And in a little bit, Gary and Daniel and Chuck are going to come up, 00:00:58.780 --> 00:01:02.259 and they're going to do just that. They're going to profess their faith in Christ and get baptized 00:01:02.259 --> 00:01:06.540 as a sign of all that Christ has done for them. You'll notice in the order of service that Sam 00:01:06.540 --> 00:01:10.060 Stevens was also scheduled to get baptized today, but his dad, Jeff, couldn't make it. He's actually 00:01:10.060 --> 00:01:15.060 caring for a family member in the hospital this morning. So have no fear, we will reschedule Sam's 00:01:15.060 --> 00:01:21.000 baptism soon, which means that if you would like to get baptized, there's a date going to be coming up 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:26.319 where that can take place. So if you've placed your trust in Christ and you haven't been baptized yet, 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:31.799 come talk to me after the service. We'd love to talk about next steps. So baptism is a sign of our 00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:35.419 new life in Christ. And if you've been here at Trinity the last few weeks, you know that we've 00:01:35.419 --> 00:01:42.019 been walking through Colossians chapter 3, which is all about living out this new life that we have 00:01:42.019 --> 00:01:47.419 through faith in Christ. And what our text today is going to show us actually is that there is no 00:01:47.419 --> 00:01:54.399 sphere of life that is off limits from the lordship of Jesus and from this new life that we have in 00:01:54.400 --> 00:02:01.760 Christ. In fact, we're going to see that living out this radical new creation life starts at home. 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:10.020 So why don't we pray together and then I'll read Colossians starting in chapter 3, verse 17. Let's pray. 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:17.640 Our God, we do thank you for the glorious hope that we've just sung about in Christ that one day he will 00:02:17.639 --> 00:02:25.759 return and we will be able to say it is well with our soul because you have forgiven all of our sins 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:32.359 and you've given us a living hope through your Holy Spirit. Father, now as we come to your word, 00:02:32.439 --> 00:02:37.399 we pray that you would grant us your Holy Spirit that we might understand it or that our hearts would 00:02:37.399 --> 00:02:43.019 be receptive to what your Spirit is saying to us that we might see the goodness and the glory of what 00:02:43.020 --> 00:02:49.219 it means to live out this new life in Christ together. We pray for your help in this in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:02:50.660 --> 00:02:53.800 All right, picking up Colossians chapter 3, verse 17. 00:02:55.020 --> 00:03:04.680 And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God 00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:12.860 the Father through him. Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your 00:03:12.860 --> 00:03:18.140 wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything for this pleases the 00:03:18.140 --> 00:03:24.960 Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged. Bondservants, obey in 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:29.560 everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, 00:03:29.960 --> 00:03:35.420 but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and 00:03:35.420 --> 00:03:40.280 not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:46.400 You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, 00:03:46.759 --> 00:03:52.560 and there is no partiality. Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:55.479 knowing that you also have a master in heaven. 00:03:58.500 --> 00:04:04.400 Well, in one of his parables, Jesus once described the kingdom of God like a mustard seed. 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:09.520 A mustard seed, Jesus said in this parable, is one of the smallest of all the seeds, 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:17.519 and yet a man took that seed and planted it in a field, and that small seed took root and grew 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:24.019 and became a tree, larger than all the other garden plants, big enough for the birds of the air to come 00:04:24.019 --> 00:04:28.399 and make nests in its branches and to find safety in its shade. 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:34.939 In other words, what Jesus is saying here is that the world-changing reign of God and the gospel 00:04:34.939 --> 00:04:41.060 often starts with something simple, something small, something seemingly insignificant. 00:04:43.099 --> 00:04:49.379 But from that small start, it has the power to grow and to change things forever, 00:04:50.179 --> 00:04:52.219 and to even bring blessing to the world. 00:04:52.220 --> 00:05:01.600 In verse 17, where we started our reading, Paul hits the climax of his description of the new life, 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:03.540 the new humanity that we've become in Christ. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:09.020 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:12.380 That is a sweeping, awe-inspiring statement, isn't it? 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:15.100 It makes you want to just go win the world for Christ, right? 00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:17.940 And cure cancer and end poverty and plant churches for the sake of his name, 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:20.580 to dream big dreams for Jesus' sake. 00:05:20.579 --> 00:05:21.699 And that's a good desire. 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:29.139 But surprisingly, Paul's first application of this radical new life 00:05:29.139 --> 00:05:36.779 is in a much more mundane, everyday, seemingly insignificant sphere of our home, 00:05:37.599 --> 00:05:39.399 of our household relationships. 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:45.360 It's as if Paul is saying if the new life in Christ is going to mean anything at all, 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:50.240 it has to impact our real relationships. 00:05:50.900 --> 00:05:56.180 The transformation that happens through the gospel of grace has to start like a seed 00:05:56.180 --> 00:05:59.699 in the mundane, everyday relationships right at home. 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:06.180 Then isn't it true that those relationships closest to us are often the most difficult? 00:06:06.180 --> 00:06:14.199 Do you remember the part in To Kill a Mockingbird when Scout is talking to Miss Maudie about her father Atticus 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:15.000 and she says, 00:06:15.819 --> 00:06:21.400 Atticus don't ever do anything to Jem and me in the house that he don't do in the yard. 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:28.340 In other words, she's saying that her father's character is the same in private as it is in public. 00:06:28.339 --> 00:06:33.479 What he does in the yard for everyone to see is the same as in the house where no one can see. 00:06:35.179 --> 00:06:43.219 But how many of us could say that that's always true in our own case for our own selves? 00:06:44.159 --> 00:06:49.279 Our family members often see the worst side of us, don't they? 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:54.739 But if the gospel can make a difference there, 00:06:55.319 --> 00:06:58.319 if it can change our relationships at home, 00:06:59.059 --> 00:07:01.899 then the seed will really take root, 00:07:02.779 --> 00:07:03.659 become a tree, 00:07:04.619 --> 00:07:07.299 and maybe even start to turn the world upside down. 00:07:09.239 --> 00:07:12.299 So this passage is showing us what it looks like 00:07:12.299 --> 00:07:15.599 to live the new life in Christ in our most everyday relationships, 00:07:16.039 --> 00:07:18.659 which are also our most challenging relationships, 00:07:18.660 --> 00:07:21.180 our relationships with our family, 00:07:21.640 --> 00:07:22.840 with our household. 00:07:23.760 --> 00:07:27.920 Now in order to do justice to this text with the short time that we have before we go to baptism, 00:07:28.060 --> 00:07:30.260 I want to start with kind of a wide angle view of the passage, 00:07:30.660 --> 00:07:32.860 and then I want to zoom into the particulars, 00:07:33.020 --> 00:07:35.140 and then I want to come back out again to see the whole. 00:07:35.420 --> 00:07:37.120 So first, let's take a wide angle lens. 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:39.700 What do we learn taking this passage as a whole? 00:07:40.080 --> 00:07:41.000 Now for starters, 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:45.500 a typical Greco-Roman household in the first century was a bit broader than ours today. 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:48.140 You'd have a husband and wife and children, 00:07:48.139 --> 00:07:50.139 but often extended family too, 00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:53.779 and of course you'd have a number of household servants to keep everything running. 00:07:53.860 --> 00:07:55.939 Remember, this was in the age before modern technology. 00:07:56.060 --> 00:07:59.319 No one had a dishwasher or a washer and dryer in the first century, 00:07:59.479 --> 00:08:01.699 so it took quite a staff to run a big household. 00:08:02.259 --> 00:08:06.139 And that's why Paul's instructions here include not just husbands and wives and parents and children, 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:08.000 but also servants and masters as well. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:11.300 It was all seen as part of the household. 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:18.220 And Paul wasn't the only writer in his day to give directions on what household relationships should look like. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:24.379 There were Greek and Roman and Jewish writers who offered their own version of what an ideal household should be, 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:28.019 or at least they would give advice on how the father ought to run them. 00:08:28.019 --> 00:08:35.559 But when you compare Paul in the New Testament with those texts of the broader culture, 00:08:36.500 --> 00:08:41.759 you start to see just how radical, just how countercultural Paul in the New Testament was. 00:08:42.860 --> 00:08:46.360 Paul isn't simply cutting and pasting the cultural conventions of his day. 00:08:46.360 --> 00:08:52.240 No, the radical preeminence of Christ that we've been studying in Colossians, 00:08:52.560 --> 00:08:58.879 the liberating power of the gospel is at work, even here in the household codes. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:08.340 For example, consider the status of the more societally vulnerable members of the family. 00:09:09.300 --> 00:09:12.120 Wives, children, servants. 00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:18.120 In many household codes of the day, these family members are clearly seen as inferior, 00:09:19.060 --> 00:09:21.440 and often they weren't even addressed directly at all. 00:09:22.039 --> 00:09:23.720 They weren't even worth talking to. 00:09:25.299 --> 00:09:30.159 But for Paul in the New Testament, they are human beings made in God's image, 00:09:31.019 --> 00:09:34.440 addressed as those with dignity and responsibility. 00:09:36.060 --> 00:09:38.680 After all, Paul's directions to the household, as we've said, 00:09:38.759 --> 00:09:40.560 comes in the context of the rest of chapter 3. 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:43.319 Do you remember verse 11 of chapter 3? 00:09:44.019 --> 00:09:49.439 Here, there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, 00:09:49.559 --> 00:09:56.039 barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. 00:09:57.000 --> 00:09:57.459 All. 00:09:59.819 --> 00:10:04.259 Or consider Paul's teaching about our equal status as members of Christ from Galatians 3, 00:10:04.719 --> 00:10:06.259 verses 27 and 28. 00:10:06.259 --> 00:10:11.120 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:13.500 There is neither Jew nor Greek. 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:15.379 There is neither slave nor free. 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:16.700 There is not male and female. 00:10:16.819 --> 00:10:19.580 For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:26.399 This is the soil out of which all of our Christian relationships grow. 00:10:27.059 --> 00:10:29.860 Our oneness and our equal dignity and worth in Christ. 00:10:29.860 --> 00:10:33.899 So, wives, children, servants, they aren't inferior. 00:10:34.139 --> 00:10:35.860 They aren't just tools to be used. 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:41.320 They are God's image bearers and Christ's own fellow heirs of the kingdom. 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:49.120 But consider, too, how Paul addresses the more powerful or privileged person 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:51.940 in each of these three pairs of relationships. 00:10:52.920 --> 00:10:57.220 Consider how he addresses the husband, the father, the parent, and the master. 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:02.420 You know, many household codes of the day would have granted the head of the household, 00:11:02.620 --> 00:11:07.720 the paterfamilias, complete, unquestioned authority in the home. 00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:14.840 Patria potestas, paternal power, to do as he wished. 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:21.740 But, notice how Paul has something very, very different to say. 00:11:23.060 --> 00:11:27.240 To those in positions of power and authority, husbands, parents, masters, 00:11:28.460 --> 00:11:33.480 he commands love and gentleness and justice. 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:40.519 This is what real Christ-like leadership looks like. 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:46.100 They are to use positions of authority not to advance their own desires, 00:11:46.259 --> 00:11:50.519 but to promote the flourishing and renewal of God's image in others. 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:56.019 They're ultimately to seek the good of the other rather than their own, 00:11:56.200 --> 00:11:58.519 even if and when it is costly. 00:11:58.519 --> 00:12:05.079 Now, before we zoom in and look at how this gets fleshed out 00:12:05.079 --> 00:12:07.360 in these three very different pairs of relationships, 00:12:07.720 --> 00:12:11.000 let's pause on these two broad observations that we've just seen. 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:18.000 First, we see that to be under authority does not steal or diminish one's dignity or worth. 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:21.980 Second, to be in authority means to be responsible, 00:12:22.199 --> 00:12:25.539 to act in love, understanding, and justice towards those under your care 00:12:25.539 --> 00:12:26.819 that they might truly flourish. 00:12:26.820 --> 00:12:32.379 And if that was countercultural in Paul's day, it certainly still is today, is it not? 00:12:34.379 --> 00:12:38.920 On the one hand, too often we link dignity and worth 00:12:38.920 --> 00:12:41.700 to social status, position, or privilege. 00:12:42.340 --> 00:12:45.020 But that is just not so. 00:12:46.300 --> 00:12:49.180 Our dignity comes from being made in God's image 00:12:49.180 --> 00:12:51.720 and being redeemed and loved by Christ. 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:58.259 And you know, that actually frees us to come under authority when appropriate 00:12:58.259 --> 00:13:03.860 without any threat to our identity, without any diminishment to our worth. 00:13:06.220 --> 00:13:08.940 On the other hand, too often we think that being in authority 00:13:08.940 --> 00:13:12.460 means that we get to call the shots and everyone else has to obey. 00:13:12.460 --> 00:13:18.420 That others have to bend their wills around our needs and our desires. 00:13:20.780 --> 00:13:26.660 But this is not the biblical picture of how authority is meant to be held. 00:13:27.320 --> 00:13:31.980 It is meant to be sacrificially exercised for the other's good. 00:13:31.980 --> 00:13:37.019 And this is why abuses of authority are so heinous and so wrong. 00:13:37.779 --> 00:13:41.240 You see, the New Testament condemns self-seeking uses of authority. 00:13:42.100 --> 00:13:45.300 Those kind of uses of authority that would exploit or take advantage of others 00:13:45.300 --> 00:13:47.100 for our own gain, our own pleasure. 00:13:47.940 --> 00:13:52.139 And it is very right to speak out against such abuses of authority. 00:13:52.139 --> 00:13:59.460 What real authority looks like is not others bending their wills around our needs, 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:05.240 but being in a position to sacrificially bend our wills around their needs, 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:06.919 especially those who are vulnerable. 00:14:09.580 --> 00:14:10.980 So that's the broad view. 00:14:11.779 --> 00:14:13.139 Now, let's take a close-up. 00:14:13.500 --> 00:14:14.240 Let's zoom in. 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:17.000 First, Paul addresses husbands and wives. 00:14:17.179 --> 00:14:19.259 Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. 00:14:19.340 --> 00:14:20.120 This is verse 18. 00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:21.139 Verse 19, 00:14:21.139 --> 00:14:24.100 And husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. 00:14:25.059 --> 00:14:28.840 So here we have a picture of submission and love. 00:14:29.819 --> 00:14:33.279 In other words, our new life in Christ changes the marriage relationship 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:39.039 from one of adversarial coexistence to deferential loving friendship. 00:14:40.919 --> 00:14:45.100 Now, of course, it is a massive understatement to say 00:14:45.100 --> 00:14:47.759 that the language of submission is not very popular today. 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:50.639 Right? 00:14:51.139 --> 00:14:55.939 I mean, submission is probably like one of five words that we just utterly despise as a culture. 00:14:56.059 --> 00:14:57.019 Can we just say that? 00:14:57.319 --> 00:14:58.100 Let's admit that. 00:14:58.179 --> 00:14:58.559 Okay, good. 00:14:58.639 --> 00:14:59.080 All right. 00:14:59.100 --> 00:14:59.740 We're all being honest. 00:15:00.620 --> 00:15:04.740 But you know, when the New Testament tells wives to submit to their husbands, 00:15:04.740 --> 00:15:08.860 it does not mean that wives are simply to always say, 00:15:08.860 --> 00:15:12.080 yes, dear, and then be a doormat to get walked all over. 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:13.680 Neither seen nor heard. 00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:18.720 This is not in any way what the Bible means by submission. 00:15:21.220 --> 00:15:22.800 Think of Adam and Eve in the garden. 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:26.980 I think that will give us a better picture of submission in marriage. 00:15:26.980 --> 00:15:29.399 Adam had a mission to fulfill. 00:15:29.980 --> 00:15:33.539 But it became clear very quickly that he could not do it on his own. 00:15:34.899 --> 00:15:43.399 Eve was created as his strong ally with strengths and gifts to help Adam fulfill their God-given mission. 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:53.220 And so submission means becoming your husband's first and best ally in pursuit of your God-given mission. 00:15:53.220 --> 00:15:56.560 But it isn't one-sided. 00:15:57.639 --> 00:16:04.080 Husbands are meant to love their wives, which was an unheard-of command in the first century. 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:09.120 No husband was told to love their wife in a household code. 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:12.139 And yet here comes Paul crashing through. 00:16:14.100 --> 00:16:17.560 And love here means putting down our rights for the sake of the other, 00:16:18.019 --> 00:16:23.040 finding one's joy, as it were, in the joy of your spouse. 00:16:24.019 --> 00:16:30.300 And so you see there's a reciprocity that begins to emerge in a Christ-centered marriage like a dance. 00:16:31.180 --> 00:16:32.899 Yes, the husband takes the lead. 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:33.779 He sets the pace. 00:16:33.860 --> 00:16:38.200 But his aim is the flourishing and the good of his wife in love. 00:16:38.620 --> 00:16:42.600 And the wife following his lead in the dance brings all her strengths to bear 00:16:42.600 --> 00:16:45.899 to help him pursue his God-given purpose as well. 00:16:48.120 --> 00:16:51.580 And lest you think that is just me, a 21st century pastor, 00:16:51.580 --> 00:16:54.200 kind of reading this in the most positive way possible. 00:16:55.240 --> 00:17:00.340 Listen to John Chrysostom in the 5th century who is commenting on this passage. 00:17:00.660 --> 00:17:02.300 He sees the exact same thing. 00:17:03.100 --> 00:17:03.460 He says, 00:17:03.460 --> 00:17:25.180 So husbands and wives, how is your dance? 00:17:25.180 --> 00:17:33.200 In what ways, wives, do you need to reaffirm to your husband your glad and strong support of what God has called him to? 00:17:33.840 --> 00:17:37.820 That you are beside him in the battle every step of the way, 00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:40.580 your sword drawn, ready to fight at his side. 00:17:40.579 --> 00:17:48.139 And in what ways, husbands, do you need to reaffirm to your wife that you take delight in her? 00:17:48.259 --> 00:17:51.980 That you find your highest earthly joy in seeing her flourish? 00:17:52.179 --> 00:17:56.220 That you would gladly spend and be spent for her sake. 00:17:56.220 --> 00:18:00.200 How's your dance, friends? 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:08.019 Let's go on to the second relationship between fathers or parents and children. 00:18:08.180 --> 00:18:08.480 Paul says, 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:11.240 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:15.200 Fathers, do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged. 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:22.840 Our new life in Christ changes the parent-child relationship from one of a frustrated battle of wills 00:18:22.840 --> 00:18:27.900 to one of trusting obedience and soul-stirring encouragement. 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:32.200 Children are to obey their parents in everything, 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:35.500 not questioning or doubting or second-guessing everything they say. 00:18:36.860 --> 00:18:39.880 Now, of course, Paul is assuming that the parents here are godly parents, 00:18:39.960 --> 00:18:42.880 that they aren't asking the child to do anything that would be disobedient to God. 00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:46.740 In all cases, in any relationship, we must obey God rather than men, 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:48.480 as Acts 5.29 says. 00:18:48.560 --> 00:18:52.260 That goes, in other words, without saying in all of these commands that Paul gives. 00:18:53.060 --> 00:18:55.720 Also, Paul is here talking about children who are still dependent 00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:57.620 and living under their parents' care and protection. 00:18:57.740 --> 00:18:59.060 He's talking about household here. 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:01.560 When it comes to adult children, 00:19:02.560 --> 00:19:04.760 of course, they should still honor their parents in everything, 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:09.320 but the call isn't to necessarily obey them in the exact same ways that you would 00:19:09.320 --> 00:19:12.220 if you were still living under their care and under their home as a child. 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:17.620 But here at home, Paul's pretty clear, children should obey. 00:19:20.040 --> 00:19:22.880 And they should do so because it pleases the Lord. 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:28.360 Now, let me speak directly to the kids and teenagers for a second. 00:19:29.260 --> 00:19:34.720 Guys, imagine if you had someone in your life 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:37.240 who loved you more than you could imagine, 00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:40.099 who had your best interests at heart, 00:19:40.220 --> 00:19:44.099 and who was much, much wiser in life than you. 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:47.359 I mean, wouldn't that be perfect? 00:19:48.120 --> 00:19:49.620 Wouldn't you want to listen to that person 00:19:49.620 --> 00:19:51.420 and maybe even do what they said? 00:19:52.620 --> 00:19:55.000 I mean, if Tom Brady showed up at your football practice 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:57.779 and was like, okay, here's how you throw a pass, 00:19:57.779 --> 00:20:02.339 you would not be like, ugh, Tom Brady's so controlling. 00:20:03.879 --> 00:20:05.680 Why won't he let me live my life? 00:20:07.859 --> 00:20:08.700 Of course not. 00:20:08.920 --> 00:20:10.680 You'd be like, okay, Tom, show me again. 00:20:10.859 --> 00:20:11.539 Am I getting it right? 00:20:12.019 --> 00:20:13.480 Man, it's so great to have you here. 00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:14.599 You're so wise. 00:20:14.700 --> 00:20:15.579 You just care for me. 00:20:15.779 --> 00:20:16.440 It's awesome. 00:20:16.440 --> 00:20:23.080 Now, look, I know you don't think your parents are Tom Brady. 00:20:23.480 --> 00:20:24.380 I get it. 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:28.080 But they're a lot wiser than you think. 00:20:29.320 --> 00:20:31.860 And your life will go so much better 00:20:31.860 --> 00:20:34.980 if you listen to them and, yes, obey them. 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:38.640 But here's the thing, ultimately. 00:20:39.880 --> 00:20:41.259 This is why you should do it. 00:20:42.100 --> 00:20:43.960 Not because it pleases your parents 00:20:43.960 --> 00:20:46.680 and not because it will make your life go better, 00:20:46.759 --> 00:20:47.240 though it will, 00:20:48.340 --> 00:20:50.980 but ultimately because it pleases the Lord. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:54.400 The sovereign God who made you 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:56.600 and loves you and left heaven 00:20:56.600 --> 00:20:59.620 to come to earth to rescue you 00:20:59.620 --> 00:21:01.960 actually finds joy 00:21:01.960 --> 00:21:04.740 when you honor and obey your parents. 00:21:06.660 --> 00:21:08.960 Do it not because your parents are cool. 00:21:09.460 --> 00:21:10.200 They're probably not. 00:21:10.740 --> 00:21:12.880 Do it because it pleases the Lord. 00:21:13.960 --> 00:21:15.160 And parents, 00:21:15.840 --> 00:21:17.980 don't be afraid 00:21:17.980 --> 00:21:20.880 to require obedience of your kids. 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:25.200 You're helping them please the Lord. 00:21:28.100 --> 00:21:30.759 Now, parents, you have a part to play in this as well. 00:21:32.340 --> 00:21:34.680 It's possible, as Paul says in this passage, 00:21:34.819 --> 00:21:36.340 to discourage your kids, 00:21:37.660 --> 00:21:39.220 which the word kind of means 00:21:39.220 --> 00:21:41.240 to suck the spirit right out of them. 00:21:41.240 --> 00:21:45.680 When we're overly harsh or demanding, 00:21:46.620 --> 00:21:49.259 when we refuse to accept them 00:21:49.259 --> 00:21:51.079 and praise them for who they are, 00:21:51.120 --> 00:21:51.940 or what's worse, 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:54.000 when we compare them negatively to other kids, 00:21:54.359 --> 00:21:55.940 why can't you be more like your brother? 00:21:58.700 --> 00:22:01.400 When we don't tune in to their desires and gifts 00:22:01.400 --> 00:22:04.079 and instead try to relive our lives through them, 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:07.539 all of that in many other ways 00:22:07.539 --> 00:22:09.460 is a form of provoking them. 00:22:10.740 --> 00:22:12.079 And Paul's very insightful here. 00:22:12.119 --> 00:22:12.439 He says, 00:22:12.519 --> 00:22:13.960 it will shut them down. 00:22:16.659 --> 00:22:17.960 Now, I know that a lot of parents 00:22:17.960 --> 00:22:19.500 feel pretty much perpetual guilt 00:22:19.500 --> 00:22:21.559 because we feel like we're messing up 00:22:21.559 --> 00:22:22.720 constantly with our kids. 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:25.880 And let me just say this morning 00:22:25.880 --> 00:22:28.120 that the grace of Christ 00:22:28.120 --> 00:22:30.740 covers even your parenting mess-ups. 00:22:32.339 --> 00:22:35.120 And God hasn't made a mistake 00:22:35.120 --> 00:22:39.720 in giving you as the parent to your kids. 00:22:39.900 --> 00:22:40.940 God knows what he's doing. 00:22:42.900 --> 00:22:44.559 And rather than beating yourself up, 00:22:44.620 --> 00:22:46.720 think of a way you can encourage your kids this week. 00:22:48.019 --> 00:22:49.880 Pick something they've worked hard at, 00:22:49.880 --> 00:22:52.320 even if they haven't done a great job. 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:53.600 Pick something they've worked hard at 00:22:53.600 --> 00:22:55.100 or that you appreciate about them 00:22:55.100 --> 00:22:57.620 and tell them how proud you are of them 00:22:57.620 --> 00:22:59.160 and how much you're thankful for them. 00:23:00.580 --> 00:23:02.320 Now, look, they might respond with a, 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:03.420 yeah, sure, whatever, Dad. 00:23:04.560 --> 00:23:05.260 Whatever, Mom. 00:23:06.860 --> 00:23:08.740 But it will mean more than you think. 00:23:09.860 --> 00:23:12.420 It will be the seed that gets sown. 00:23:15.760 --> 00:23:17.460 Well, let's move on to the third relationship, 00:23:17.640 --> 00:23:18.460 servants and masters. 00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:20.900 Now, we won't be able to spend a lot of time here. 00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:22.700 And there are some good applications 00:23:22.700 --> 00:23:25.779 that we can make to our own modern workplaces, 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:27.880 the relationship between employers and employees. 00:23:28.100 --> 00:23:29.840 But rather than kind of go into all that, 00:23:29.900 --> 00:23:31.180 maybe that's something you can talk about 00:23:31.180 --> 00:23:33.259 over lunch or later this week. 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:34.640 I want to say a quick word about a question 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:36.519 that comes up in relation to this passage 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:38.220 and others like it in the New Testament. 00:23:38.860 --> 00:23:40.559 And that question is, 00:23:41.259 --> 00:23:44.059 is Paul approving of slavery here? 00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:47.220 He's talking to slaves and masters. 00:23:47.220 --> 00:23:49.460 Is he okay with it? 00:23:52.460 --> 00:23:55.200 Well, the short answer to that question is no. 00:23:56.779 --> 00:23:59.220 But let me unpack that with three points. 00:24:00.259 --> 00:24:02.380 First, in this passage, 00:24:02.460 --> 00:24:03.839 and others like it in the New Testament, 00:24:04.059 --> 00:24:06.259 Paul is giving practical advice 00:24:06.259 --> 00:24:10.200 on how to live within the existing social conditions 00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:10.779 of the day, 00:24:10.779 --> 00:24:14.519 not commenting directly on the rightness 00:24:14.519 --> 00:24:16.500 or wrongness of slavery itself. 00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:18.940 In other words, he's saying, 00:24:19.059 --> 00:24:20.460 look, here's where you find yourself. 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:22.579 Here's how to live in that situation. 00:24:22.859 --> 00:24:23.639 He's not saying, 00:24:23.819 --> 00:24:25.279 here's what I think of slavery. 00:24:26.420 --> 00:24:28.279 So it's wrong to think that Paul's description 00:24:28.279 --> 00:24:31.240 of how to live under a certain fallen human system 00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:33.700 equals an approval of the system itself. 00:24:33.700 --> 00:24:34.819 The Bible has a lot to say 00:24:34.819 --> 00:24:36.360 about how to bear up under persecution, 00:24:36.759 --> 00:24:38.140 but it's not very positive 00:24:38.140 --> 00:24:40.779 or approving of persecution of Christians. 00:24:42.779 --> 00:24:43.180 Second, 00:24:43.720 --> 00:24:45.799 when we hear the word slavery today, 00:24:45.880 --> 00:24:47.700 we can't help but think 00:24:47.700 --> 00:24:49.460 of 18th and 19th century 00:24:49.460 --> 00:24:51.380 race-based chattel slavery. 00:24:51.380 --> 00:24:55.420 And when we look at the New Testament, 00:24:55.540 --> 00:24:56.500 when we look at Paul's writings, 00:24:56.600 --> 00:24:59.260 we find that he explicitly condemns 00:24:59.260 --> 00:25:01.280 at least two of the main features 00:25:01.280 --> 00:25:02.400 of that evil institution. 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:05.760 First, the New Testament is very clear 00:25:05.760 --> 00:25:08.220 that racism in all forms is wrong. 00:25:09.020 --> 00:25:11.080 Both in creation and in redemption, 00:25:11.260 --> 00:25:12.200 the Bible teaches us 00:25:12.200 --> 00:25:14.080 that people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds 00:25:14.080 --> 00:25:14.600 are equal. 00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:15.260 And in fact, 00:25:15.540 --> 00:25:16.620 the vision of heaven 00:25:16.620 --> 00:25:18.300 that we have in Revelation 00:25:18.300 --> 00:25:19.820 is of people of every tribe 00:25:19.820 --> 00:25:20.860 and tongue and nation 00:25:20.859 --> 00:25:22.619 united around the throne of God 00:25:22.619 --> 00:25:25.339 and praise on equal terms. 00:25:28.179 --> 00:25:30.819 So racism is clearly condemned 00:25:30.819 --> 00:25:32.439 by Paul in the rest of the New Testament. 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:36.919 And in 1 Timothy 1, verse 10, 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:39.379 Paul explicitly condemns 00:25:39.379 --> 00:25:41.899 what he calls enslavers, 00:25:43.019 --> 00:25:44.479 who are people 00:25:44.479 --> 00:25:46.500 who would take someone captive 00:25:46.500 --> 00:25:49.199 in order to sell them into slavery. 00:25:50.859 --> 00:25:52.479 Which is what so much 00:25:52.479 --> 00:25:56.259 of our 17th, 18th, 19th century 00:25:56.259 --> 00:25:57.199 institution of slavery 00:25:57.199 --> 00:25:58.059 was based on. 00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:00.559 And Paul in the rest of the Bible 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:01.519 comes right out and says, 00:26:01.699 --> 00:26:04.399 that is utterly, utterly wrong. 00:26:06.179 --> 00:26:08.240 So Paul would have flatly condemned 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:10.279 what we think of as slavery today. 00:26:11.679 --> 00:26:12.399 Third point. 00:26:12.939 --> 00:26:13.899 Slavery in Paul's day 00:26:13.899 --> 00:26:15.019 had a much broader meaning 00:26:15.019 --> 00:26:15.899 than it does today. 00:26:15.900 --> 00:26:17.060 For example, 00:26:17.120 --> 00:26:17.780 in the first century, 00:26:17.900 --> 00:26:18.820 slaves could own property. 00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:21.320 Many could earn enough money 00:26:21.320 --> 00:26:22.420 to purchase their own freedom. 00:26:23.019 --> 00:26:24.480 Some were given positions 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:25.280 of relative honor 00:26:25.280 --> 00:26:26.680 in the families that they served. 00:26:27.660 --> 00:26:28.140 However, 00:26:29.120 --> 00:26:31.220 even with that being the case, 00:26:32.320 --> 00:26:34.240 what Paul and the other apostles 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:35.660 taught in the gospel 00:26:35.660 --> 00:26:37.560 eventually led 00:26:37.560 --> 00:26:39.200 to the dismantling 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:40.280 and the abolishment 00:26:40.280 --> 00:26:41.800 of all forms of slavery. 00:26:41.799 --> 00:26:45.299 Just consider the passage here 00:26:45.299 --> 00:26:46.559 in Colossians for a second. 00:26:47.819 --> 00:26:49.379 What is the underlying message 00:26:49.379 --> 00:26:50.299 of Paul's advice 00:26:50.299 --> 00:26:51.519 to servants and masters? 00:26:52.899 --> 00:26:54.279 It's that they ultimately 00:26:54.279 --> 00:26:56.200 all have one master in heaven, 00:26:56.940 --> 00:26:57.639 the Lord Jesus. 00:26:59.019 --> 00:26:59.579 Ultimately, 00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:01.119 they serve the same master 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:03.339 and must both answer to him. 00:27:04.099 --> 00:27:05.659 And their heavenly Lord Jesus 00:27:05.659 --> 00:27:06.539 demands, 00:27:07.159 --> 00:27:08.399 in chapter 4, verse 1, 00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:09.579 that earthly masters 00:27:09.579 --> 00:27:10.639 treat their servants 00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:11.759 with justice 00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:13.020 and equity 00:27:13.020 --> 00:27:15.620 to view them 00:27:15.620 --> 00:27:16.920 with equal dignity 00:27:16.920 --> 00:27:17.720 and respect 00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:19.460 not just as God's 00:27:19.460 --> 00:27:20.400 image bearers 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:20.980 in creation 00:27:20.980 --> 00:27:22.640 but also as fellow heirs 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:23.600 of the kingdom of God 00:27:23.600 --> 00:27:24.200 in redemption. 00:27:25.580 --> 00:27:26.100 Now, friends, 00:27:26.220 --> 00:27:27.380 how on earth 00:27:27.380 --> 00:27:28.480 could one 00:27:28.480 --> 00:27:30.320 continue to treat 00:27:30.320 --> 00:27:31.759 a fellow image bearer 00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:32.600 and co-heir 00:27:32.600 --> 00:27:33.420 of the kingdom of God 00:27:33.420 --> 00:27:34.340 justly 00:27:34.340 --> 00:27:35.560 and fairly 00:27:35.560 --> 00:27:37.240 while still owning them 00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:37.920 as a slave? 00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:41.500 As the implications 00:27:41.500 --> 00:27:42.300 of the gospel 00:27:42.300 --> 00:27:43.380 were unpacked, 00:27:43.380 --> 00:27:44.080 as the seed 00:27:44.080 --> 00:27:44.700 took root 00:27:44.700 --> 00:27:45.200 and grew, 00:27:45.380 --> 00:27:46.520 slavery would have 00:27:46.520 --> 00:27:47.040 to fall. 00:27:49.340 --> 00:27:50.520 So the gospel 00:27:50.520 --> 00:27:51.620 planted the seeds 00:27:51.620 --> 00:27:52.780 that eventually 00:27:52.780 --> 00:27:53.960 brought the system down. 00:27:56.759 --> 00:27:57.580 Let's conclude 00:27:57.580 --> 00:27:58.220 by zooming out 00:27:58.220 --> 00:27:58.759 once again. 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:01.000 Throughout the passage, 00:28:01.160 --> 00:28:02.380 there's a constant refrain, 00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:02.880 isn't there? 00:28:03.140 --> 00:28:04.020 Seven times 00:28:04.020 --> 00:28:05.060 in this short passage, 00:28:05.259 --> 00:28:06.040 Paul speaks 00:28:06.039 --> 00:28:07.559 of the Lord. 00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:09.899 Husbands and wives, 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:10.579 do what's fitting 00:28:10.579 --> 00:28:11.139 in the Lord. 00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:12.359 Parents and children, 00:28:12.740 --> 00:28:13.480 do what's pleasing 00:28:13.480 --> 00:28:14.039 to the Lord. 00:28:14.420 --> 00:28:15.139 Servants should work 00:28:15.139 --> 00:28:16.139 ultimately for the Lord 00:28:16.139 --> 00:28:16.960 and not for men. 00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:17.920 And earthly masters 00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:18.500 should remember 00:28:18.500 --> 00:28:19.099 that they too 00:28:19.099 --> 00:28:19.639 have a master, 00:28:19.740 --> 00:28:20.819 the Lord Jesus in heaven 00:28:20.819 --> 00:28:21.579 and there's no 00:28:21.579 --> 00:28:22.639 partiality with him. 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:25.279 What reframes 00:28:25.279 --> 00:28:26.259 and reorients 00:28:26.259 --> 00:28:27.700 all of our relationships, 00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:28.720 even and especially 00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:30.139 our household relationships, 00:28:30.500 --> 00:28:32.180 is our relationship 00:28:32.180 --> 00:28:33.099 to the Lord Jesus. 00:28:33.099 --> 00:28:33.259 Jesus. 00:28:36.039 --> 00:28:36.559 After all, 00:28:36.619 --> 00:28:37.480 don't these commands 00:28:37.480 --> 00:28:40.680 require that we lay down 00:28:40.680 --> 00:28:41.779 our selfishness 00:28:41.779 --> 00:28:43.819 and serve the people 00:28:43.819 --> 00:28:44.579 before us? 00:28:45.819 --> 00:28:47.420 Where does the power 00:28:47.420 --> 00:28:48.779 come from to do that? 00:28:50.599 --> 00:28:52.259 Paul's been whispering it 00:28:52.259 --> 00:28:53.059 and saying it 00:28:53.059 --> 00:28:54.119 the whole time 00:28:54.119 --> 00:28:56.240 from our relationship 00:28:56.240 --> 00:28:58.619 with the Lord Jesus. 00:28:59.779 --> 00:29:01.639 It's because the Lord Jesus 00:29:01.639 --> 00:29:03.460 willingly submitted himself 00:29:03.460 --> 00:29:05.000 to the Father's will for us 00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:07.079 that wives can willingly 00:29:07.079 --> 00:29:08.279 submit to their husbands 00:29:08.279 --> 00:29:08.920 in Christ. 00:29:10.099 --> 00:29:11.359 It's because the Lord Jesus 00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:12.180 loved us 00:29:12.180 --> 00:29:13.680 and gave himself for us 00:29:13.680 --> 00:29:15.079 that husbands can love 00:29:15.079 --> 00:29:16.259 and lay down their lives 00:29:16.259 --> 00:29:17.160 for their wives. 00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:19.660 It's because the Lord Jesus 00:29:19.660 --> 00:29:21.019 obeyed his heavenly Father 00:29:21.019 --> 00:29:22.359 perfectly on our behalf 00:29:22.359 --> 00:29:24.480 that we can seek to please him 00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:25.980 by obeying our earthly parents. 00:29:27.079 --> 00:29:28.359 It's because the Lord Jesus 00:29:28.359 --> 00:29:29.319 is so gentle 00:29:29.319 --> 00:29:30.960 and caring with us, 00:29:31.539 --> 00:29:33.500 never breaking the bruised reed, 00:29:33.500 --> 00:29:35.000 never quenching 00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:36.220 the smoldering wick, 00:29:36.779 --> 00:29:38.400 that we can be gentle 00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:39.200 and understanding 00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:40.180 with our children. 00:29:41.240 --> 00:29:42.619 It's because the Lord Jesus 00:29:42.619 --> 00:29:43.559 humbled himself 00:29:43.559 --> 00:29:44.400 and took on the form 00:29:44.400 --> 00:29:45.160 of a servant 00:29:45.160 --> 00:29:46.920 dying on the cross for us 00:29:46.920 --> 00:29:48.339 that even when we find ourselves 00:29:48.339 --> 00:29:49.680 in situations of injustice, 00:29:49.920 --> 00:29:51.220 we can still be faithful 00:29:51.220 --> 00:29:51.680 under it 00:29:51.680 --> 00:29:52.900 and serve the Lord Jesus. 00:29:55.380 --> 00:29:56.559 It's because the Lord 00:29:56.559 --> 00:29:57.640 has liberated us 00:29:57.640 --> 00:29:58.559 from our sins 00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:00.859 and freed us 00:30:00.859 --> 00:30:02.059 from guilt and condemnation, 00:30:02.220 --> 00:30:03.220 set us free 00:30:03.220 --> 00:30:05.220 that we can treat others 00:30:05.220 --> 00:30:06.659 with justice and fairness 00:30:06.659 --> 00:30:07.460 even to the point 00:30:07.460 --> 00:30:08.579 of setting them free 00:30:08.579 --> 00:30:10.819 at great cost to ourselves. 00:30:13.019 --> 00:30:14.220 And so the whole 00:30:14.220 --> 00:30:15.200 of the Christian life, 00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:17.899 even down to our most basic 00:30:17.899 --> 00:30:19.159 relationships in the home, 00:30:19.220 --> 00:30:20.359 are meant to flow out 00:30:20.359 --> 00:30:21.359 of who Christ is 00:30:21.359 --> 00:30:22.779 and what he's done. 00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:24.399 And that means 00:30:24.399 --> 00:30:25.559 knowing Christ 00:30:25.559 --> 00:30:27.019 and being in him 00:30:27.019 --> 00:30:28.379 transfigures 00:30:28.379 --> 00:30:29.179 and transforms 00:30:29.179 --> 00:30:30.419 even our most mundane 00:30:30.419 --> 00:30:31.139 relationships 00:30:31.139 --> 00:30:32.359 and makes them windows 00:30:32.359 --> 00:30:33.299 and displays 00:30:33.299 --> 00:30:35.279 of his glorious grace. 00:30:38.299 --> 00:30:39.619 Do you know what that's like? 00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:42.740 More importantly, 00:30:42.879 --> 00:30:43.799 have you experienced 00:30:43.799 --> 00:30:45.079 his grace for yourself? 00:30:47.599 --> 00:30:48.419 Perhaps this morning 00:30:48.419 --> 00:30:49.019 as you've been walking 00:30:49.019 --> 00:30:49.700 through this text, 00:30:49.799 --> 00:30:50.319 God's been moving 00:30:50.319 --> 00:30:50.879 on your heart 00:30:50.879 --> 00:30:53.079 and perhaps you've been 00:30:53.079 --> 00:30:55.379 considering how far short 00:30:55.380 --> 00:30:55.920 you fall 00:30:55.920 --> 00:30:57.500 of what real 00:30:57.500 --> 00:30:59.360 God-honoring relationships 00:30:59.360 --> 00:31:00.640 are supposed to look like. 00:31:02.260 --> 00:31:03.280 Perhaps you realize 00:31:03.280 --> 00:31:03.980 that the ones 00:31:03.980 --> 00:31:05.180 you're closest to 00:31:05.180 --> 00:31:05.820 are the ones 00:31:05.820 --> 00:31:06.760 you've hurt the most. 00:31:08.740 --> 00:31:09.740 And when that starts 00:31:09.740 --> 00:31:10.380 to sink in, 00:31:10.440 --> 00:31:11.120 you start to wonder, 00:31:11.260 --> 00:31:12.440 could God ever forgive me? 00:31:13.520 --> 00:31:14.640 And is it possible 00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:16.860 to have this new life? 00:31:19.420 --> 00:31:19.880 Well, friends, 00:31:19.980 --> 00:31:21.120 hear the good news 00:31:21.120 --> 00:31:22.360 of the gospel. 00:31:23.120 --> 00:31:23.960 That in Christ, 00:31:23.960 --> 00:31:25.019 there is full 00:31:25.019 --> 00:31:26.900 and free forgiveness. 00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:28.700 And you, 00:31:29.620 --> 00:31:30.299 who were dead 00:31:30.299 --> 00:31:31.200 in trespasses, 00:31:31.340 --> 00:31:32.480 Paul says in Colossians, 00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:34.860 God made alive 00:31:34.860 --> 00:31:36.140 together with him 00:31:36.140 --> 00:31:37.759 having forgiven us 00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:39.360 all our trespasses 00:31:39.360 --> 00:31:40.519 by canceling 00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:41.799 the record of debt 00:31:41.799 --> 00:31:42.700 that stood against us 00:31:42.700 --> 00:31:43.620 with its legal demands. 00:31:43.740 --> 00:31:44.019 This, 00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:45.480 he set aside, 00:31:46.440 --> 00:31:47.480 nailing it 00:31:47.480 --> 00:31:48.340 to the cross. 00:31:49.600 --> 00:31:51.019 All of your wrongs, 00:31:51.120 --> 00:31:52.200 all of your failures, 00:31:52.200 --> 00:31:52.980 all the ways 00:31:52.980 --> 00:31:53.779 in which you've hurt 00:31:53.779 --> 00:31:54.900 those closest to you, 00:31:55.279 --> 00:31:56.259 Christ has taken, 00:31:56.759 --> 00:31:58.319 nailed to his own cross, 00:31:58.539 --> 00:31:59.720 and borne away 00:31:59.720 --> 00:32:01.539 so that you can have 00:32:01.539 --> 00:32:02.360 his righteousness 00:32:02.360 --> 00:32:03.759 and forgiveness 00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:04.980 and freedom 00:32:04.980 --> 00:32:05.960 and new life. 00:32:06.860 --> 00:32:08.100 That is true 00:32:08.100 --> 00:32:09.340 for all who place 00:32:09.340 --> 00:32:10.220 their faith in Christ. 00:32:10.319 --> 00:32:11.140 And that invitation 00:32:11.140 --> 00:32:12.019 stands open 00:32:12.019 --> 00:32:13.360 for you today 00:32:13.360 --> 00:32:15.860 to place your trust 00:32:15.860 --> 00:32:16.180 in him 00:32:16.180 --> 00:32:16.860 and to receive 00:32:16.860 --> 00:32:17.420 his forgiveness 00:32:17.420 --> 00:32:18.200 and new life. 00:32:18.200 --> 00:32:21.519 And as we celebrate 00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:22.559 baptism this morning, 00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:23.580 it's right for us 00:32:23.580 --> 00:32:24.640 who've been baptized 00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:25.559 to remember 00:32:25.559 --> 00:32:26.960 our baptism, 00:32:27.720 --> 00:32:28.880 to remember 00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:29.720 what it signifies 00:32:29.720 --> 00:32:30.500 and what it means 00:32:30.500 --> 00:32:31.160 that we've died 00:32:31.160 --> 00:32:32.059 and risen with Christ, 00:32:32.140 --> 00:32:32.920 that the old is gone, 00:32:32.980 --> 00:32:33.840 that the new has come, 00:32:35.120 --> 00:32:35.779 and in remembering 00:32:35.779 --> 00:32:36.799 that to be hopeful. 00:32:40.019 --> 00:32:41.019 Perhaps you're discouraged 00:32:41.019 --> 00:32:41.500 this morning 00:32:41.500 --> 00:32:42.319 at how your household 00:32:42.319 --> 00:32:43.360 relationships have been, 00:32:43.460 --> 00:32:43.720 Christian. 00:32:45.080 --> 00:32:45.960 Perhaps you don't see 00:32:45.960 --> 00:32:46.720 much of Christ 00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:47.920 in them at the moment. 00:32:48.200 --> 00:32:51.000 But don't despair. 00:32:53.519 --> 00:32:55.220 What small, 00:32:55.360 --> 00:32:57.759 mustard seed-like act 00:32:57.759 --> 00:32:59.160 can you take today, 00:32:59.319 --> 00:33:00.160 take this week, 00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:01.240 in the power 00:33:01.240 --> 00:33:02.220 of the Holy Spirit 00:33:02.220 --> 00:33:04.080 to begin sowing 00:33:04.080 --> 00:33:06.200 toward Christ-like 00:33:06.200 --> 00:33:07.039 relationships? 00:33:08.680 --> 00:33:09.900 You have put off 00:33:09.900 --> 00:33:10.660 the old self. 00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:11.759 You have put on 00:33:11.759 --> 00:33:12.100 the new. 00:33:12.200 --> 00:33:13.460 You are a new creation 00:33:13.460 --> 00:33:14.259 in Christ. 00:33:16.460 --> 00:33:17.519 Live into that 00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:18.039 this week. 00:33:18.200 --> 00:33:22.360 Perhaps the first step 00:33:22.360 --> 00:33:23.259 is to seek forgiveness 00:33:23.259 --> 00:33:25.120 from the family member 00:33:25.120 --> 00:33:25.860 that you've been failing 00:33:25.860 --> 00:33:26.539 to relate to 00:33:26.539 --> 00:33:27.160 in the way Paul 00:33:27.160 --> 00:33:27.819 shows us here. 00:33:30.100 --> 00:33:31.180 Perhaps it's to finally 00:33:31.180 --> 00:33:32.019 grant forgiveness 00:33:32.019 --> 00:33:34.299 to that family member 00:33:34.299 --> 00:33:35.400 and to begin again 00:33:35.400 --> 00:33:36.380 in the grace of Christ. 00:33:36.380 --> 00:33:39.680 And as the parable 00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:40.660 of Jesus reminds us, 00:33:40.720 --> 00:33:41.540 we must never 00:33:41.540 --> 00:33:42.900 underestimate 00:33:42.900 --> 00:33:44.120 these small acts 00:33:44.120 --> 00:33:45.220 of submission, 00:33:45.580 --> 00:33:46.080 of love, 00:33:46.180 --> 00:33:46.700 of patience, 00:33:46.940 --> 00:33:47.440 of kindness, 00:33:47.600 --> 00:33:48.120 of obedience. 00:33:49.300 --> 00:33:50.340 These are the things 00:33:50.340 --> 00:33:50.900 that grow. 00:33:52.120 --> 00:33:54.000 That grow like mustard seeds 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:54.880 until our homes 00:33:54.880 --> 00:33:55.980 and all of our relationships 00:33:55.980 --> 00:33:58.200 become like mighty trees 00:33:58.200 --> 00:34:00.380 with branches spreading out, 00:34:00.480 --> 00:34:01.440 offering shade 00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:02.580 and shelter 00:34:02.580 --> 00:34:04.000 in our weary world. 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:08.699 Imagine if our households 00:34:08.699 --> 00:34:09.500 could radiate 00:34:09.500 --> 00:34:10.639 with the grace of Christ 00:34:10.639 --> 00:34:11.420 like this passage 00:34:11.420 --> 00:34:12.119 talks about. 00:34:13.639 --> 00:34:14.539 Surely our neighbors 00:34:14.539 --> 00:34:15.320 would be intrigued 00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:15.940 and attracted 00:34:15.940 --> 00:34:16.659 to what they see, 00:34:16.739 --> 00:34:17.079 wouldn't they? 00:34:18.519 --> 00:34:19.400 Surely the church 00:34:19.400 --> 00:34:20.219 would be strengthened 00:34:20.219 --> 00:34:21.000 and blessed 00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:22.099 by the overflow of grace. 00:34:22.460 --> 00:34:23.519 Surely Christ would be honored 00:34:23.519 --> 00:34:24.219 as we do it all 00:34:24.219 --> 00:34:24.800 in his name. 00:34:26.260 --> 00:34:27.119 But it doesn't just 00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:27.679 end at home. 00:34:28.780 --> 00:34:29.840 It keeps going. 00:34:29.840 --> 00:34:32.320 The call for us 00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:32.920 in our baptism 00:34:32.920 --> 00:34:33.880 and our discipleship 00:34:33.880 --> 00:34:34.300 of Christ 00:34:34.300 --> 00:34:35.160 and our life together 00:34:35.160 --> 00:34:35.840 as a church 00:34:35.840 --> 00:34:37.600 is to take this grace 00:34:37.600 --> 00:34:39.200 into all of our relationships, 00:34:39.340 --> 00:34:40.660 into every corner of life, 00:34:40.760 --> 00:34:41.880 to keep going 00:34:41.880 --> 00:34:45.019 until you find 00:34:45.019 --> 00:34:46.000 that whatever you do 00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:47.860 in word or deed, 00:34:48.160 --> 00:34:49.559 you do everything 00:34:49.559 --> 00:34:50.000 in the name 00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:50.720 of the Lord Jesus, 00:34:51.760 --> 00:34:53.100 giving thanks 00:34:53.100 --> 00:34:53.800 to God the Father 00:34:53.800 --> 00:34:54.320 through him 00:34:54.320 --> 00:34:56.860 and then all of life 00:34:56.860 --> 00:34:58.559 becomes a display 00:34:58.559 --> 00:34:59.739 of his glorious grace. 00:35:01.420 --> 00:35:02.039 Let's pray. 00:35:08.079 --> 00:35:09.000 Father, we confess 00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:09.539 this morning 00:35:09.539 --> 00:35:12.259 that many parts 00:35:12.259 --> 00:35:13.059 of this passage 00:35:13.059 --> 00:35:14.199 strike us as hard. 00:35:16.299 --> 00:35:17.299 Lord, just as it was 00:35:17.299 --> 00:35:18.400 a countercultural word 00:35:18.400 --> 00:35:19.000 in Paul's day, 00:35:19.079 --> 00:35:19.980 so it is for ours. 00:35:20.059 --> 00:35:21.039 Would you help us, Lord, 00:35:21.599 --> 00:35:23.880 to have hearts 00:35:23.880 --> 00:35:25.340 that are shaped 00:35:25.340 --> 00:35:26.099 and humbled 00:35:26.099 --> 00:35:26.980 and empowered 00:35:26.980 --> 00:35:29.000 by your Holy Spirit 00:35:29.000 --> 00:35:30.199 to see the goodness 00:35:30.199 --> 00:35:31.059 in these words, 00:35:31.159 --> 00:35:31.960 to know that we can 00:35:31.960 --> 00:35:32.800 trust you? 00:35:34.179 --> 00:35:34.920 Lord, how could we 00:35:34.920 --> 00:35:35.699 not trust you 00:35:35.699 --> 00:35:36.840 having sent your own son 00:35:36.840 --> 00:35:37.679 to die for us? 00:35:37.719 --> 00:35:38.300 How can you not 00:35:38.300 --> 00:35:39.480 have our best in mind? 00:35:40.780 --> 00:35:41.480 Help us to see 00:35:41.480 --> 00:35:41.980 the goodness 00:35:41.980 --> 00:35:43.179 in these words, God, 00:35:43.699 --> 00:35:45.619 and help us 00:35:45.619 --> 00:35:46.219 by your Spirit 00:35:46.219 --> 00:35:47.059 to lay aside 00:35:47.059 --> 00:35:47.940 the selfishness 00:35:47.940 --> 00:35:48.860 and the old ways 00:35:48.860 --> 00:35:49.480 that would want us 00:35:49.480 --> 00:35:50.599 to continue to live 00:35:50.599 --> 00:35:52.059 for ourselves 00:35:52.059 --> 00:35:52.639 and help us 00:35:52.639 --> 00:35:53.599 to put on the new self 00:35:53.599 --> 00:35:54.280 to live lives 00:35:54.280 --> 00:35:55.579 of love and peace 00:35:55.579 --> 00:35:56.380 and thanksgiving 00:35:56.380 --> 00:35:57.840 with those 00:35:57.840 --> 00:35:59.079 who are closest to us? 00:36:02.299 --> 00:36:02.940 And Father, 00:36:03.019 --> 00:36:03.599 as we celebrate 00:36:03.599 --> 00:36:04.860 baptism this morning, 00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:05.599 we pray 00:36:05.599 --> 00:36:07.380 that this joyous occasion 00:36:07.380 --> 00:36:08.360 would speak assurance 00:36:08.360 --> 00:36:09.219 to the hearts 00:36:09.219 --> 00:36:10.400 of Chuck 00:36:10.400 --> 00:36:11.119 and Daniel 00:36:11.119 --> 00:36:11.759 and Gary 00:36:11.759 --> 00:36:13.099 and Lord, 00:36:13.500 --> 00:36:14.219 to all of us 00:36:14.219 --> 00:36:14.739 this morning. 00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:16.340 We pray this, 00:36:16.619 --> 00:36:16.799 Father, 00:36:16.940 --> 00:36:17.799 in Jesus' name. 00:36:18.279 --> 00:36:18.519 Amen. 00:36:20.679 --> 00:36:21.319 Well, friends, 00:36:21.380 --> 00:36:22.920 let's do just that. 00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:23.679 Let me invite 00:36:23.679 --> 00:36:26.779 Charles and Daniel 00:36:26.779 --> 00:36:28.679 and Gary 00:36:28.679 --> 00:36:29.500 to come on up. 00:36:29.799 --> 00:36:30.679 Come on up, guys. 00:36:35.359 --> 00:36:37.199 So Gary and Daniel 00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:38.440 are going to share 00:36:38.440 --> 00:36:39.219 their testimony. 00:36:41.359 --> 00:36:42.119 Chuck's testimony 00:36:42.119 --> 00:36:43.699 is in the bulletin. 00:36:43.759 --> 00:36:44.579 You can see it there. 00:36:45.480 --> 00:36:47.319 He shares there 00:36:47.319 --> 00:36:48.159 that he grew up