The following sermon was preached at Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Redlands, California. For more information, please visit our website at hopeprc.org. Our Scripture reading this morning is 2 Corinthians 12. It is not expedient for me, doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether out of the body I cannot tell, God knoweth, such in one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell, God knoweth, how that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such in one will I glory, yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool, for I will say the truth. But now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure. in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong. I have become a fool in glorying, ye have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended of you. For in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles. though I be nothing. Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, in wonders, in mighty deeds. For what is it wherein you were inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome to you? Forgive me this wrong. Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be burdensome to you, for I seek not yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you, though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. But be it so, I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile. Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you? I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? Walked we not in the same spirit? Walked we not in the same steps? Again, thinking that we excuse ourselves unto you, we speak before God in Christ. But we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying. For I fear, lest when I come, I shall not find you such as I would And that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not, lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults, unless when I come again my God will humble me among you. And that I shall bewail many which have sinned already and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed. Thus far we read this divinely inspired Word of God. The text for the sermon is verse 14. Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be burdensome to you, for I seek not yours, but you. And especially this phrase, For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. Paul was not an apostle. He is not an apostle. He only calls himself an apostle and tries to do the work of an apostle for money. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, that was the accusation that was repeatedly hurled against the Apostle Paul in and around Corinth. Many publicly declared, many, especially Ironically, false apostles who are not apostles, but who called themselves apostles and tried to do the work of apostles for money. Many, especially the false apostles, hurled this accusation against Paul, saying Paul is not an apostle. Paul was not called as one of the 12 by the Lord. Paul does not have the authority to teach. He only calls himself an apostle, and he tries to do the work of an apostle for money, for financial gain. In 2 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul again passionately and vigorously defends and commends his apostolic credentials. And in the words of chapter 12, the first 13 verses leading up to the text in verse 14, Paul is saying, I am an apostle. And I could do something I'm loath to do. But I'm inclined to do it. And what I could do, though I'm loath to do it, is glory. I could boast. I could boast of my apostleship. I'm going to tell you that right now. I could boast of my apostleship, and you might think I'm glorying, but I have to tell you this. I could boast of my apostleship. Fourteen years ago, I received an extraordinary revelation, and words fail me to express to you what occurred. Fourteen years ago, heaven did not come down to me, but I was caught up into the third heaven. I was caught up into paradise itself, where God is, and where the holy angels are, and where the disembodied souls of the righteous are, and where the ascended Lord Jesus Christ Himself is. I went to heaven. Not only am I an apostle, and not only did the Lord call me to be an apostle on my way to Damascus when He appeared to me from heaven, I went to heaven. You find an apostle who has on his credentials that he went to heaven. I know one. Paul. I could glory and boast in my apostleship, but I forbear. lest any one of you think of me more highly than you ought to think. In fact, exactly that I do not boast in my revelations, the Lord God gave me a thorn in my flesh as a messenger of Satan to buffet me. to teach me not to be strong in myself, but to be weak in myself and to be strong in the Lord. Now, why don't you saints in Corinth support me? Why don't you defend me as an apostle before all of these attacks on my apostleship, which are not only attacks against me personally, but attacks against the Lord and His ministry through me? Why do you compel me to become a fool? in making mention of my revelations. You know I am an apostle. You know that in nothing do I come behind the very chiefest apostles. And you know that in my work among you as an apostle, the signs of an apostle were wrought. And you know that when I came to you, I was never a financial burden unto you. I did not receive financial support from you. By the way, if that offended you, then forgive me this wrong. You know I am an apostle. You know I didn't come for your money. You know I came for your entrance into the gospel. That, beloved, is a summary of the tenor of the first 13 verses of 2 Corinthians 12. And now comes the text, verse 14. Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be burdensome to you. In the past, when I came to you, I was not a financial burden to you. I did not receive financial support from you. And when I come to you a third time, I will not, yet again, I will not be a burden unto you financially. For I seek not yours, but you. For the reason, when I come to you a third time, and I will not be a financial burden to you, for the reason is I don't seek yours, your possessions, your money, your things. I seek you. I seek your souls. I seek your salvation. The children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. When I come to you a third time, I will not be a financial burden unto you. And the reason for that is I don't seek your things, your money, I seek you. And the reason I seek you and not your money is I am a faithful, spiritual father unto you as every apostle should be. And as a faithful, spiritual parent unto you, I lay up for you. You ought not lay up for me, but I ought to lay up for you. In the attacks, the Apostle is appealing to a principle from home life. The Apostle will not take the principle from home life and apply it to home life. The apostle takes the principle from home life, and he applies it to church life, to the Corinthian congregation, and to his work there as an apostle. Nevertheless, he is appealing to a principle from home life. And that principle has an application to home life. And therefore, an explanation of it in connection with baptism this morning is apt. And the principle is, children ought not to lay up for the parents, Parents ought to lay up for the children. Let's examine that principle this morning. Taking as our theme, laying up for our children. Let's follow this line the text gives to us. First of all, the principle. Secondly, the practice of the principle. And third, the prophet of the practice of the principle. The principle, the practice, the prophet. The main word in the text is the verb, lay up. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. To lay up is to gather up treasure. and to store up that treasure for future use. Growing up in the Midwest, where it was cold and snowy and wintry, it was not uncommon before the winter to see squirrels gathering up nuts. and storing up the acorns in their nests in the trees for future use because the cold, snowy winter was coming. What they were doing, to use the language of the text, was laying up to gather and store up treasure for future use. It's a verb that Jesus uses in his ministry when referring to that God-hating money-lover who tore down his barns and built bigger barns. Luke 12, 19-21, and I, said the money-lover, and I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up For many years take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? Jesus concludes, so is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. In gathering up and storing up treasure, the rich fool was laying up. And now that verb is found in the principle of the text. And the principle is that children ought not lay up. Children ought not gather and store up treasures for the future use of their parents, providing for their parents. But parents ought to lay up. They ought to gather and store up treasure for the future use of their children in providing for their children. Materially, the parents ought to lay up. for the children. That the parents ought to do this materially is evident from the main word, lay up. its meaning, and its use in Scripture. Furthermore, in the context, the apostle is referring to financial support. Materially, parents lay up for the children. The principle is that children ought not be gathering up financial resources and material support for the future use of their parents, but parents ought to be gathering up financial resources, material support for the use of their children. Now certainly the principle does not forbid grown adult children providing for their weakening elderly parents. In fact, Grown adult children have a responsibility to provide for their weakening elderly parents. However, the principle here concerns home life, where there are parents and children together, living together, where parents are living with children as children. They are children. They are young. They are dependent. They are needy. And the principle is that children as children ought not be laying up, planning and working and providing for their parents and the future of their parents. But the parents ought to be working and planning and preparing, laying up financially for their children. The principle of the text makes plain that parents are not forbidden to save money and to plan financially for the future and invest for the future. Some might suppose that the Bible's calling of us to trust in God means that we may not save financially for the future, but instead we ought to trust God. Doesn't Jesus say in Matthew 6, verse 25, take no thought for the morrow? What ye shall lead, What ye shall drink, nor yet for your body what ye shall put on, is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment." And Jesus means don't be anxious about tomorrow. Don't be anxious for the future. And whether or not you will have enough, trust God. Do that. Trust God. And obey. God, who commands through the principle of the text that parents lay up and lay up financially, lay up something for their children. The principle of home life includes laying up material resources. Spiritually, we lay up for our children. Jesus says in Matthew 6, 19 and 20, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth. where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal." Jesus is not contradicting the principle of 2 Corinthians 12, verse 14, which teaches us that parents ought to lay up and lay up financially for their children. But Jesus means, do not lay up earthly treasures, and lay up your heart with those treasures. Just like that rich man did, who was not rich toward God, but was rich toward his mammon, and he laid up all of his treasures and his heart with his earthly treasures. Don't lay up earthly treasures in your heart with your earthly treasures, because moth and rust can come and corrupt and destroy your earthly treasures, and then you'll be heartbroken before your God. It was an idol. Jesus says, rather, lay up heavenly treasures. And the point is, lay up heavenly treasures and your heart with the heavenly treasures, because moth and rust cannot come and corrupt the heavenly treasure. And you will never be heartbroken, but eternally satisfied. The highest and best treasure that we can lay up for the children is the treasure that the Apostle was very busy laying up for the Corinthians, and that's the treasure of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who is, according to another verse in the Epistle, chapter 9, verse 15, the unspeakable gift. The unfathomable treasure is Jesus Christ and the truth of Him. Children do not lay up spiritual treasures, the doctrinal truth of Jesus Christ, for their parents. When the Israelites came into the land of Canaan, it wasn't the children who secured a portion in the land so that their parents would have an inheritance in the land. Parents ought to lay up spiritual treasures of the gospel for their children. Just like when the Israelites went into the land of Canaan, it was parents who secured a portion in the land that their children might have an inheritance in the Holy Land. Foolish and worldly are the parents who only lay up for their children financial resources. but nothing spiritually. Materially and especially spiritually, we parents ought to lay up for our children. Materially, spiritually, covenantally, we ought to lay up for our children. God not only establishes His covenant with us as individuals, but He establishes His covenant with us as a body. Together. And not only with us as adults, but He establishes His covenant with our children and our children's children in the line of generations. We all ought to lay up for the children. All of us laying up for all of the children in the covenant. And not only today's children, but tomorrow's children in the line of generations. The Apostle does not say in the text, For the children ought to lay up for their parents, but the parents for their children. Instead, he says, for the children ought to lay up for the parents and the parents for the children. All of us for all of the children now and in the future, children ought not to lay up. covenantally for their parents and their parents' parents in their ancestry going all the way back. Most of them have already died and gone on to inherit their everlasting inheritance. But parents ought to lay up for their children and their children's children in the line of continued generations. This is a principle. that materially, spiritually, and covenantally, we parents lay up for the children. This is a principle. In the text, the apostle does not give a practice. He would be giving us a practice if he said, The children are not laying up for the parents, but the parents are laying up for the children. That's a practice. He doesn't give a practice. He gives a principle. He says, for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents ought to. The parents are in duty bound to. The parents have a solemn responsibility to lay up. for the children. A principle, and it's a principle grounded in love. In love for the children, parents lay up for them. Nature itself displays the practice of this principle and that the principle is grounded in love. There is what the Bible calls natural affection. And according to natural affection, even creatures in a fallen world lay up for their young, for their offspring. All human beings, even ungodly, totally depraved enemies of God, having what the Bible calls natural affection, will lay up something, something temporal for their children. And animals, whether it be the squirrel before the cold winter or other animals, having a natural affection for their offspring, will lay up some food for their young. This makes the sin of parental neglect in the covenant, when parents neglect their children, by not laying up for them an exceedingly grievous sin, because this kind of sin in the covenant is not only a sin against grace, it's a sin against nature. Even animals have an affection for their young and lay up some food. By the way, according to 2nd Timothy 3, verse 3, the apostle says there that in the last days perilous times shall come. And one of the evidences will be that men will not have natural affection. Men will not even lay up a piece of bread for their children, but abuse them. and neglect them in the pursuit of their own fancies and pleasures and idols. They will murder them. Instead of laying up something for their child, they'll kill their baby when it's still in the womb. They will abort their children having no natural affection for their young. Nature itself reveals the principle that parents lay up for their children and do it in love. But nature reveals the principle because there is a God of nature, a God who made the creation and who originally gave to the creation its nature as a reflection of His own nature as a loving Father. In love, God the Father eternally lays up in His eternal counsel the treasure of the Lord Jesus Christ for His elect people. And in history, God reveals this treasure unto His people in the old dispensation through types and shadows. And in the fullness of time, we'll hear this again tonight, Lord's Day 14 of the Heidelberg Catechism, this treasure, Lord Jesus Christ, comes into the flesh and is revealed among us. And we behold His glory. He suffers and He dies for us. And He arises from the grave on the third day for us. And He ascends into heaven. God takes the treasure of the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, and He stores up Christ at His right hand, waiting for the day which will be the culmination of all things, when God rolls back the heavens as a scroll, and He will reveal to His church that stored up treasure of the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, who will descend to the church. This is your treasure. God does that in love for us. He lays up His only begotten Son as our treasure. We children do not lay up for God, for God our Father. We do not gather and store up spiritual saving blessings for God. We ought not lay up for God. We ought not lay up anything for God. How can we lay up anything for God? But God the Father, He, in His grace, in His sovereign mercy, He lays up all the riches of salvation in Jesus Christ for us. and for us as unworthy sinners, and for our children as unworthy sinners, the treasures of salvation, because He loves us. Not only according to nature then, where there is natural affection, as the Bible calls it, but especially according to God Himself and His nature as a merciful, loving God and Father, we have the principle of the text. parents ought to lay up for the children. A principle determines our practice. First of all, it determined the practice of the Apostle Paul in Corinth. Paul was the father. The Corinthians were the children. Paul came to Corinth as an apostle, and he preached the gospel there. And through that preaching, God established a congregation in Corinth. And Paul was a kind of founding father. He was a spiritual father in the faith to the Corinthians, so that Paul could say in 1 Corinthians 4 verse 15, in Jesus Christ I have begotten you through the gospel. I've begotten you. I'm the Father, in the faith, and you are the children, Corinthians. And then in that relationship, the principle of the text was practiced. In the relationship, the Corinthian children ought not to lay up financial resources for their father, Paul. Now that does not mean that no congregation ought to lay up financially for its minister. In fact, the Bible, God, explicitly commands the congregation to lay up financially for its pastor. And Paul would receive financial support from, for example, the congregation in Philippi. But in this situation in Corinth, where Paul's apostolic credentials were denied and attacked to the detriment of the gospel, Paul applies the principle of home life to the church life there, and he says, you Corinthian children of mine, You ought not lay up for me, ought not lay up anything for me. Therefore, when I come to you a third time, I will not be a burden unto you. I will not seek financial resources from you. But on the other hand, I, Paul, am your spiritual father in the faith, and I ought to lay up for you. And that's what Paul did. It wasn't his duty to lay up financially for the congregation as if he were supposed to support the congregation financially, but it was his solemn obligation to lay up for the congregation the gospel truth of Jesus Christ for them and for their children in the line of generations. And that's what Paul did in his work there. laboring diligently for the organization of a congregation, the institution of office bearers, and then the preaching of the gospel as the means of grace for them and for their children in the future. He practiced the principle. He laid up the spiritual treasures of the gospel for his Corinthian children. He practiced the principle. How is our practice of the principle going? First of all, materially. We lay up. That's our practice. According to the principle, we lay up financially for our children. And the practice is not that we must make sure we have some extravagant inheritance left behind for our children at our passing, but that we fathers go to work so that we can have a treasury. And out of our treasury, we can provide for our children. And we can give to the causes of God's kingdom. We do not say to our children, children, you must go to work for us as parents. And you children must put bread on the table. And you must give clothing to us parents. And you must find us a dwelling place. And on Sunday when we go to church, we're going to ask you children to take out of your purses, in your pockets, offerings for us as parents so that we will have something to give to God. Children ought not to lay up for the parents. It is the responsibility of the parents to lay up for the children. A responsibility we take seriously when we get married and when we have a child. Here's a child. It's our responsibility to lay up for this child. But all of us together, for all the children of the church, it is our responsibility to lay up for the youth of God's covenant. Laziness, selfish greed, Wasteful spending and poor stewardship do not arise out of the principle of the tax, but are condemned by the principle. Parents lay up for their children, and that involves diligent work, labor especially by the father, and financial stewardship in the home. 1 Timothy 5 verse 8, But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house. He hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel." Financially, we lay up to provide for the children. primary in that category of material support that we lay up for the children is not that material support that's aimed at their stomachs, bread, aimed at their backs, clothing, aimed at their heads, a house with a roof. But in that category of material support, primary is that support that's aimed at their hearts. And one kind of that material support that is ultimately aimed at their heart is school tuition. There can be no better time to say school tuition. than when there's a newborn babe, an infant child like the one baptized this morning. Because the entire education of the child stretches out now before the parents. Years and years and years of a calling to educate and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars For school tuition, trust God. He cares for the sparrows. He lays up food for the fowl of the air. Trust God. God provides. And obey God who says, lay up. And one application of that for us regards school tuition. Younger parents especially, when the children are young, And even before they go to school, of course, lay up responsibly. Probably all children, when they grow up and they go out and get a job and begin earning a wage, their parents will sit down with them and say, all right, now you're earning a wage. We need to talk more specifically now about financial stewardship. You're getting a check. And a portion of the check goes first to God, Sunday offerings. And you want to save a portion of your check. And now that you're earning a wage, maybe some parents will say, a small cut is going to go to your own tuition. We've got plenty of other responsibilities. You're able now. A small cut, teaching you responsibility, will go to your own tuition. That's a long time down the road. from when a child is an infant held in arms. Who will pay for school tuition during all those years before the child matures as a young person? Children ought not to lay up financially for their own tuition. They're children. Parents ought to lay up financially for the school tuition of their children. of all the important events and decisions taken at Synod. Probably what goes unnoticed by most is Synod's approval of the work of the Board of Trustees, who supervises the denomination's finances. And commendable is the work of the Board of Trustees in seeking to be faithful in financial stewardship through savings and analyzing and using various effective short-term and long-term investment strategies. Children ought not serve on the board of trustees, planning and preparing for the future. But parents and grandparents ought to handle with diligent care finances and the generous gifts and bequests that come into the denomination. Tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. And this is a gift from God. What do we do with it? Parents. ought to lay up for the children of the denomination. And there's a work done there through the men who serve on the board of trustees. We do not put our trust in what we lay up financially. We put our trust in God. But God gives us the principle for us to practice, to lay up financially responsibly for the children. As important as our laying up materially is for our children, far, far more important is our laying up as Paul was laying up in Corinth, and that is the spiritual laying up gospel treasures for us, for our children, for our denominations' children. All that money that's laid up responsibly, even money allocated for school tuition or for the support of the gospel ministry, that money is all worthless. It's useless. if we are not preserving the truth and giving our children an education in harmony with the truth and bringing our children to catechism and to church on Sunday and to the family altar day by day to lead them into the truth, the truth of God. The truth of God their Creator, whom they must remember in the days of their youth. The truth of Jesus Christ, the sovereign Savior and the everlasting covenant of grace, who is the author, author and finisher of our and our children's faith. the truth of God in Christ. To lay up for the children is above all things to lay up for them the truth of God in Christ when a generation of parents arises that do not fight for the truth, do not even know the fundamentals of the truth, do not embrace the truth by faith, do not glory in the truth and confess the truth, know and study and discuss the truth, but are instead indifferent to the truth. and even worse, compromise the truth, and even worse, sell the truth for a comfortable lifestyle or in order to win the praise of the world, then parents in the congregation who are not committed to the truth, they have nothing to lay out for their children, and they're worse than Muslims and atheists, infidels, says Paul. The truth. That's it. The truth of God in Jesus Christ. What good is a Protestant reformed school? What good is a Protestant reformed high school? What good is laying up all kinds of labor and time and service and money for a Protestant reformed high school? if we don't have a commitment to the truth and have the truth behind it. What good is this pulpit? What good is a catechism lectern if we do not have the truth in the pulpit? What good is anything? What good is your house? What good is your car? What good is your job? What good is our life if we do not have God's truth? Which is the truth of Christ Himself. Our solemn obligation as parents is, to use the language of the Apostle in the very next verse, verse 15, to spend, to spend ourselves, to be spent for the children. As we promise in baptism to the utmost of our power, We are committed to laying up the truth taught in the Old and New Testament and in the articles of our Christian faith. And that truth that is taught here in this Christian church, we are committed to spending ourselves in laying up this truth for our children and our children's children. Taking whatever lawful means are necessary to make sure that in our midst we have the truth. commitment to confession, of study, of preaching, of reading, of discussion, of love, of God's truth. So that when our children come to the years of discretion, they can have a marvelous treasure to possess and in which they can glory. This is God's truth which endures forever. Great sacrifices are made by parents, and parents are called to make great sacrifices for their children and their grandchildren to make sure that in their generations their children can be a member of a true church, a true church, and have the preaching of the pure gospel of Jesus Christ laying up for the children. Children ought not to lay up for the parents. How can a child lay up the truth of the gospel for the parent? A baby, an infant was brought up to the baptismal font this morning. A baby. What can a little baby held in arms do for the parents and for the securing of the gospel truth for the parents? And parents, parents, children ought, parents ought, parents, have a solemn obligation before God to lay up for the children the truth, the gospel of Jesus Christ. From one point of view then, the entire difficult ministry of the Apostle Paul was just laying up, gathering up, and storing up treasure. throughout the whole Greco-Roman Mediterranean world from Jerusalem all the way to, and there he died, in Rome. He left a trail behind him. Everywhere he went, he was laying up for congregations and for their children the truth of the gospel, practicing the principle. There's the principle. There's the practice of the principle. And finally this morning, the prophet of the practice of the principle. The prophet is brought out in the text by the word you that immediately precedes the last clause. You, says the apostle. He says, "...for I seek not yours, but you. For the children ought not and so on." Paul insists, I do not seek your possessions, your things, but I seek you, your souls, your salvation because I'm a faithful minister, apostle, and father laying up gospel treasures for you. That means the goal of all of this laying up is not simply that there's a treasure stored up for children. That's not the goal. The goal is you, your soul, your salvation. And if that's the goal, then by God's gracious blessing, there is a prophet, which is the accomplishing of the goal. And the prophet is the accomplishing of the goal, which is you. You're the goal. You, your souls, your salvation. What's the prophet? That you children, You, in your salvation with your souls, you prosper in God's truth. That's the prophet. And there was prophet to Paul's work. And there's profit for us in seeing the prosperity of our children as they love and walk in the truth. There is no greater joy for a father and mother. Boys and girls, listen to this. There is no greater joy for your father and mother than to see you walking in love for God's truth. There is profit. Laying up for us is hard. We spend ourselves and we are spent. There are weary fathers and tired, discouraged, perhaps, mothers. Laying up is hard. There's profit. By grace, there's profit. Only by grace is there practice. No grace, no practice. Why is it that not many are laying up the truth for their children? Why are there so many churches taking the treasure of the truth and casting it in the depths of the sea, saying to the children, you don't want to go to catechism? Well, then we're Canceling catechism. And you don't want to go to church? We're not going to go to church tonight. You want to go to church and hear some men jamming on a guitar? Then we're going to have men jam. Why do so many churches throw out the truth? Well, the question is, why don't we throw out the truth? It's only by grace. There's a practice only by God's grace. And then by grace, there is the profit of the practice. God graciously uses our weak, sinful efforts as parents, and He brings profit to our labors. We parents need baptism this morning. I need baptism. And you need baptism. To see that water sprinkled on Sylvia's head, and to say by faith, So certainly does God through Jesus Christ wash away all of my parental failure and neglect in laying up for my children because I do not lay up as I ought. Shame on me. And thanks be to God for the assurance of pardon. And He's so gracious that He uses our weak, sinful efforts to bring profit to us and our children. There is profit. And the profit is not only that our sons and daughters have food for their bellies, clothing for their back, and a shelter in which they can live, but they have the truth of Jesus Christ. They have the truth of sovereign, particular grace. They have the truth in five or ten minutes. We, the young people, will open up our Reformed confessions for our young people. We have the Reformed confessions. We have them. And by God's gracious operation, we have among us and our children a love for the truth of the Reformed faith. What better prophet could there be under the sun than to have a child come to the years of discretion and hold in His hand the truth of sovereign particular grace as expressed in the Reformed confessions and say, My, oh my, this is my treasure. And it is above all things lovely to me. I will never forsake my treasure. I will die for my treasure who is Christ. That's the prophet by God's gracious work. And if anyone doubts that God does bring profit, look back. Look at our fathers 500 years ago at the Reformation and what they were laying up for us. And our fathers in our own denomination through controversy, schism, and a loss of over half of the members of the Protestant Reformed churches laying up something for us. And we have the truth. And we love the truth. I love the truth. You do too. We love the truth. God brings profit to our practice of the principle as by His grace we practice His principle. And that's our confidence going ahead with the next generation and the children to come in the line of generations. Oh God, strengthen us by Thy grace to practice the principle and then bring profit for Thy glory. Amen. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we are unworthy of the least of Thy blessings, unworthy of a piece of bread, of a glass of water. Who are we to have the unspeakable gift of Jesus Christ and all the riches of salvation and a whole new world, a new heavens and a new earth stored up in Him? We are unworthy of Thy mercy and love and Thy goodness, and we are in awe this morning. Who are we? We do not deserve it. May we be so grateful, and may our gratitude be the power that motivates us by Thy Holy Spirit to be faithful today, tomorrow, and in the future. Hear us, for Jesus' sake. Amen.