Way Better than Television!

In the evening during dinner, not only are we continuing to read through the book of Judges, but we are also reading Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology book. Right now we are reading the chapter on baptism.

My husband had to go to the hospital last night to help out one of the other anesthesiologists. What I told my children is that when daddy is not here, Josh is the man of the house because he is the oldest male. I asked him to lead us in prayer. My youngest girl, Rachael, asked if she could pray after Josh. She did, and one of the things she mentions every time in her prayers is asking God to forgive her for the sins she did that day. Josh mentioned that he read a book when he was ten years old by Piper that really changed the way he asked for forgiveness. He mentioned that he learned that it is good to be more specific. He brought up Martin Luther's prayer life, and Brandon, my 13 year old, brought up George Mueller's. I thought of Jonathan Edwards. These men would spend hours praying. I spoke of the importance, mostly because I have a horrid memory, of asking forgiveness right then and there when you know you have sinned... not waiting until you are at the dinner table to pray or kneeling by your bed, but the fact that we, through Christ, have the blessing of prayer wherever we are, whenever we need to.

It was a great discussion... and then I began reading the Bible. I read about about Deborah and her appointment as judge of Israel. C.H. Spurgeon writes:

“The Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.”—Judges 4:9

Rather an unusual text, but there may be souls in the world that may have faith enough to grasp it. Barak, the man, though called to the war, had little stomach for the fight unless Deborah would go with him, and so the Lord determined to make it a woman’s war. By this means He rebuked the slackness of the man, and gained for Himself the more renown, and cast the more shame upon the enemies of His people.

There is also a lot of chastening from the Lord in the book of Judges. Severe consequences for their blatant sin.

“The Lord does not permit His children to sin successfully.”

God is not a “permissive parent” who allows His children to do as they please, for His ultimate purpose is that they might be “conformed to the image of His Son” (Ro8:29). The Father wants to be able to look at each member of His spiritual family and say, “This is My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17; 12:18; 17:5).

Chastening is evidence of God’s hatred for sin and His love for His people. We can’t conceive of a holy God wanting anything less than His very best for His children, and the best He can give us is a holy character like that of Jesus Christ. Obedience to the Lord builds character, but sin destroys character; and God cannot sit idly by and watch His children destroy themselves.

Israel had already experienced forty-three years of suffering under the harsh rule of the neighboring nations, but they hadn’t yet learned their lesson and turned away from the heathen idols. Unless our suffering leads to repentance, it accomplishes no lasting good; and unless our repentance is evidence of a holy desire to turn from sin, not just escape from pain, repentance is only remorse. --Spurgeon

Now, on to Grudem and the reading on baptism. I have shared HERE about Josh getting baptized. Our girls have spoken up and asked to be baptized. They are 5 and 7 years old and have made a profession of faith and seem to understand the Gospel when I ask them the hard questions. However, Josh pointed out how meaningful it was for him to wait and search the Scriptures himself and weigh the cost before making the decision to be baptized. It was another great discussion and I would ask your prayers that we would not participate in the girl's possible deception and presumption but truly guide them to eternal life without seeming to doubt or discourage them. You would think we would jump at the chance to baptize our children when they say they want to be baptized... In my opinion, too many people do that which leads to more a "fire insurance" deception of faith than true-saving faith. Caution is not discouraging if handled prayerfully and gently.

Our discussion that evening was the blessing that comes from obeying God by being baptized and the fact that baptism is not what saves you. It is an outward display of what God has done inwardly. It is an opportunity to proclaim to others publicly that you have been buried with Christ and have arisen into a new life with Him, as He has cleansed you from sin.

Some questions I asked the kids:
Will you still sin after you become a Christian? after you are baptized? and what do you do WHEN you sin as a true believer?

My two oldest boys, when their dad was at the hospital, really took on a leadership role as they helped explain things to the younger ones and engaged in the conversation. It was truly a blessing to witness.