Let's turn in our Bibles this morning to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6. For the sermon this morning, we're going to continue our treatment of the Heidelberg Catechism and look at the second part of Lord's Day 12. And in connection with that and the sermon, we read Ephesians chapter 6. This is the Word of God. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart as unto Christ. Not with eye service as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing, threatening, knowing that your master also is in heaven, neither is there respect of persons with him. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girded out with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, with ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds, and therefore I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. but that ye also may know my affairs and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things, whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. So far we read God's Word. It's in harmony with the truth taught in that chapter and in harmony with all of God's Word that we have the teaching of the Heidelberg Catechism in Lords Day 12. So let's turn to that now and read a portion of Lords Day 12 in the back of the Psalter on page 8. This morning, we're going to consider just question and answer 32, which reads this way, But why art thou called a Christian? Because I am a member of Christ by faith, and thus, am a partaker of His anointing. that so I may confess his name and present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to him, and also that with a free and good conscience I may fight against sin and Satan in this life, and afterwards reign with him eternally over all creatures. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord's Day 12 of the Heidelberg Catechism has two questions and answers that parallel each other. The first question and answer of Lord's Day 12 deals with why the Son of God is called Christ. Jesus has as His title, Christ, or the Messiah, which means the Anointed One. Jesus is the Christ because He is anointed by the Holy Spirit. And therefore, by that is called and then qualified to be the mediator of God's covenant. God, by the Holy Spirit, anointed Jesus so that He might perform the great work to which He was called, namely, to redeem a sinful people and bring that sinful people into a covenant life of fellowship with God. He does that, according to the first question and answer of Lord's Day 12, as a prophet, as a priest, and as a king. The second question and answer of Lord's Day 12 parallels that first question and answer. And it parallels that question by asking, why is the believer then called a Christian? And the answer is similar. Christ means anointed. The believer is called a Christian because, as the beginning of the answer to question 32 states, because I am a member of Christ by faith, and thus, am partaker of His anointing. To be a member of Christ by faith means that one is united to Jesus Christ. That's the essence of faith according to Lourdes Day 7. The bond of the believer to Jesus. And in that bond of faith, The child of God receives the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells within him or her and comes upon him or her. And therefore, to be a member of Christ by faith, To receive Christ Himself is to receive the very anointing of Jesus Christ by the Spirit that is upon us and dwells within us. Thus, as believers, we are called Christians. because we are anointed with that same Spirit. And the catechism goes on in this second question and answer of Lords Day 12 to state just as Christ is prophet, priest, and king, so also is the Christian anointed by that Spirit, prophet, priest, and king. This truth of Lords Day 12 can be related to the sacrament of baptism. It can be related to the sacrament of baptism from this perspective. What do we call our children? We call our children Christians. We call our children Christians because we believe according to the promise of God, His covenant promise to save believers and their children, that our children in the church Baptized, as we witnessed this morning, are God's children. God's children who are united to Jesus Christ according to the bond of faith, and therefore, as God's children, are anointed with the Holy Spirit. In the form that we read explaining the biblical doctrine of baptism, we read that. And the second point of the first section goes through each of the persons of the Trinity. And when you come to the third person, we read this. Baptized in the name of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost assures us by this holy sacrament that He will dwell in us and sanctify us to be members of Christ. That's the exact same language as what we have in Lords Day 12. Members of Christ. Applying unto us that which we have in Christ. Namely, the washing away of our sins and the daily renewing of our lives. Baptism symbolizes the fact that our children are Christians, united to Jesus Christ, saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, and anointed with the very Spirit of Jesus Christ. So then you look at Lord's Day 12 from that perspective and you realize that we have a very nice framework with which to think about the raising of our children in light of, this morning, the sacrament of baptism. Here we are as parents, and as adult believers, prophets, priests, and kings. And here, the congregation is filled with children, young and old, who we believe, according to God's covenant promise, are prophets, priests, and kings. And therefore, what is the responsibility of parents? It is as a prophet to teach our children and to teach them what it means to be a prophet. As a priest, to teach them what it means to be a priest and to show them that by their life. As a king, to fight for them and to teach them how to fight as kings. This framework of prophet, priests, and kings is very insightful for us as parents and gives good instruction for how we are to raise our children. And the fact is we need this instruction. We need it because though we are anointed by the Holy Spirit and do go forth as prophet, priests, and kings, We still have that sinful flesh against which we fight. We don't always confess God's name like we should. We don't always present our lives as a sacrifice of thanks or fight against sin as kings. We're sinners. And we need the power of God's Word, just as our children need the power of God's Word to lead us to Christ for our forgiveness, but also for the power and the renewed desire to live and to raise our children as prophets, priests, and kings. Call your attention to this under the theme, Christian Parents Raising Christian Children. They do so as prophets in the first place, as priests in the second place, and as kings in the third place. Let's start with prophets this morning. The Catechism explains what a prophet is in a very brief statement. After the opening line, which I explained in the introduction, it says, so that I may confess His name. The believer as a Christian who is a prophet demonstrates that he or she is a prophet by, as the catechism says, confessing His name. There's a couple passages that I'd like to read here that speak explicitly of the believer's calling as a prophet. Matthew 10, verse 32. Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess before My Father which is in heaven. And then the opposite, whosoever shall deny Me before men, him also will I deny before My Father which is in heaven. Another passage is Romans 10. 9-10. that if we should confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Those are just a couple of passages that speak explicitly of being prophets. Prophets, as the Catechism says, confess the name of God. The name of Jesus Christ. Two important elements to that. Number one, is that to confess is to speak. With the mouth, words. A prophet doesn't just think about things, doesn't just meditate upon things, but a prophet who is anointed with the Holy Spirit, speaks with the mouth certain words. And in the second place, speaks words that arise from what is believed in the heart. The psalmist says in Psalm 116, I believed, therefore have I spoken. Romans 10, which I just read a moment ago, speaks of confessing with the mouth that which is believed in the heart. It's not just saying words. It's saying words that arise from one's heart, and therefore, arise out of faith. This is what we believe, and this, therefore, is what we confess. The essence of the confession that a prophet makes is Christ. Catechism says that a prophet is one who confesses His name. Standing at the very heart and center of the believer's confession as a prophet is the confession, I believe and I trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. I say that and emphasize that because that always needs to be where it comes back to. Prophets speak the entire Word of God. Prophets explain the truth of the Reformed faith. That glorious heritage that God has given to us in all of its many parts. Prophets explain doctrine to one another and to their children. But the teaching of all of that Word of God and the speaking of all of that doctrine must always lead to and focus on the glory of God as He is revealed in the person and in the work of Jesus. The believer united to Jesus by faith and anointed by the Spirit confesses truth And always at the heart and center of that is, I believe and I know the Lord Jesus Christ. As I stated in the introduction, as prophets, priests, and kings, we have an old nature that militates against being faithful in these respects. It's helpful at times to see the opposite. in order to fight against that opposite and be renewed in being faithful to the positive of what it means to be a prophet. We have to fight against sin as it relates to being prophets as Christians. Prophets confess God's name and the opposite is to deny the name of Jesus. Nobody is above that. It doesn't take very long when you study Scripture to understand that. The great Peter. fell into sin because of his failure to confess the name of Jesus, but instead publicly denied the name of Jesus. And we can be guilty of denying the name of Jesus and the truth in many different ways. One of the ways in which that comes through at times in our lives is by silence. I emphasized for a reason that being a prophet means you speak You speak with your mouth what is believed in the heart. And as Christians, too often we can be silent when we should be speaking. Think about this. What is most important to you this morning as you sit in the house of God? And what is most important to me? What is the most astounding gift that we have ever been given? What is it that extends not just in this life to the very end, but the life to come where we will dwell with God forever. It's the astounding, undeserved grace of God in Jesus Christ. If that does not thrill us, if we don't understand the wonder of what God gives to us in Jesus, we're not going to speak it like we should, but when we do understand that, When we see the wonder of it all, this is something that should be coming out of our mouths. That should be part of our everyday language with each other and with our children. Let us not be silent Christians, but as anointed by the Spirit, understanding the wonder of God's grace in Jesus, let's speak. frequently and often about the glorious truth and gospel that we have in Him. Another way that this is denied or lessened, certainly denied in this respect, is by speaking the truth, but living not in harmony with that truth. That's something that comes up in a discussion of what it means to be a prophet. A very important point that we have to make. Now it's true. that what Jesus said of the Pharisees is in one way or another true of all of us because of our sinful flesh. And that is, though you speak of Me with your lips, your heart is far from Me. And if a heart is far from God, one's life, though the words may come out, is not a life that matches the words. As believers, we always have to be fighting against that. That we come together on Sunday, and we confess our faith, and the prayers we offer to God, and our confession of faith in the Apostles' Creed, and the songs that we sing, and in our everyday life we say, I believe in the truth of the Word of God. I believe in Jesus Christ who is the heart and center of that truth. I am committed, so we say with our mouths, to following the Word of God in every respect. But then our lives don't match up. It's a denial of what it means to be a prophet. And that's true in one way or another for all of us. But here's the difference for the child of God. He's going to say that. She's going to say that. That's going to be part of the confession. Part of the confession is I don't measure up in my life as I should measure up according to the Word of God. I know that I say these things, but I fall so short of the glory of God. God, help me to be faithful to His Word in every respect in my life. So what do we take from this? 1. Let us speak. but then examine our life. And here we see how priests and kings relate to being a prophet. Because a prophet who speaks is going to be a priest who gives his life and a king who fights against sin. So number one, let's examine our hearts and lives to make sure that our words align with our lives. And number two, let part of our confession be It doesn't. Like it should, God forgive, and God strengthen. In light of the sacrament of baptism, I want to apply each of these points specifically to parents raising children. And the emphasis in the questions that were asked to parents in baptism is exactly this point of being prophets. The third question that is asked of parents when they present their children for baptism is this, whether you promise and intend to see these children when come to the years of discretion instructed and brought up in the aforesaid doctrine, or help or cause them to be instructed therein to the utmost of their power." Our questions for baptism emphasize parents are prophets. Parents are prophets who teach the children that God has given to them. We read this morning Ephesians 6. In Ephesians 6, verse 4, we read, And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That second part of Ephesians 6, verse 4 is talking about being prophets. The nurture of the Lord. It's an all-comprehensive Word that speaks to the care of the children God has given us, emphasizing the speaking and teaching the truth of God's Word. And then, admonition. of the Lord very explicitly is the speaking of the Word of God to our children. You as parents, and myself as a parent, need to view our calling chiefly as that of being prophets to our children. And I want to re-emphasize what I emphasized earlier with respect to the content of what is taught to our children. The questions of baptism make that clear. The second question, the truth of God's Word. as it's taught in the Old and New Testament and taught here in this Christian church. That is what you teach the children that God has given to you. And let us make sure as parents that we do that, and that we do that in such a way that we make clear what is at the heart and center of all of that instruction. Whenever we teach history, Old and New Testament to our children in an age-appropriate way. And then when we get to the doctrine, all of the doctrines of the Reformed faith and how it all fits together, let us as parents show our children how every last part of it leads us to the Lord Jesus Christ. The framework of the Heidelberg Catechism is the framework with which we can teach all of history and all of doctrine. It's not just setting forth the facts, but it's demonstrating how this history shows us our need for Christ. This history reveals what Christ did. This history shows us how to walk or not walk in thankfulness and obedience for what we have in Christ. This doctrine shows us our need for Christ. Shows us what He did. Shows us how we are to walk in thankfulness for Jesus Christ. What I'm trying to emphasize here is that in all of our teaching, which must be thorough, thorough in the history, thorough in the doctrine, must always lead our children to see their need for, what He has done, and how to walk in response to the Person and work of Jesus whom we receive by faith. Parents as prophets teach their children Christ. Related to this is one more point that I'd like to make, in that one of the ways, a little bit more on a practical level, beyond the specific instruction of history and doctrine in the church, school and home, is by raising children in a home in which there is confession of sin, to one another, and consequently the forgiveness of sins of one another. Our confession of Jesus Christ as prophets involves a very powerful confession concerning ourselves. And that confession concerning ourselves is, I am a sinner who needs Christ. One of the most powerful ways that as parents we lay before our children the glory and beauty of the Gospel, is to speak to our children from that point of view. To say to our children, I am a sinner. As a parent, as a mom, as a dad, I need Jesus Christ. And even at times, because this happens in our homes, to confess our sins as parents to children. We live in homes and in relationships in which there's sin. Every mom and dad knows. that we don't always respond appropriately when my daughter or son is disobedient. Every husband and wife knows that I as a husband or I as a wife do not always speak the way that I should to my husband or to my wife in the presence of my children or in a room over, though the children can still hear what we are saying in the tone with which we are speaking. All of us as parents know we're weak and we're sinful. And as prophets who confess the name of Jesus Christ and the glorious truth of the Gospel, one of the ways in which we lay before them the wonder of the cross is to go to them and say, I know you heard what I said to Mom. And the tone with which I was speaking to Mom. That was sinful. And I confess that to mom. She forgave me of that, and I thank God for that. But I know you heard that, and I want you to know, my son or my daughter, that that was wrong. And I need Christ for that. And for that sin to be forgiven. And I need God's help. Not to do that anymore, and to walk in thankfulness for the forgiveness that I have. We need that environment in our homes. A home saturated with the gospel in our everyday life, in which we take on our lips the confession of Jesus Christ, so that our children learn the truth the doctrine, but also the life of what it means to live as a Christian. The second point of the sermon this morning is on priests. These two points will be briefer. The first is the main one, prophets. But priests also apply. The Catechism describes a priest in this way. It's one who presents himself a living sacrifice of thanks to God. Romans chapter 12 is where that comes from. The great application to the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Be not conformed to the world, but transformed by the renewing of your minds, presenting your bodies a living sacrifice to God. Basically, quoting that is this language of the Heidelberg Catechism. A priest, according to the Catechism, is one who presents, it says. A priest gives. If I'm going to give a gift to someone, I'm going to present that to them and give that to them. The main word with respect to what it means to be a priest is consecration. It is to consecrate, to give something to someone else. And the catechism makes clear what it is that is given. And here we see the beauty of this part of the answer. To give, it says, myself. A living sacrifice of thanks to God. To give myself. That language, beloved, is powerful. Not just I'm going to give to God something on Sunday at 9.30 and at 5 o'clock. I'm not going to just give to God at 6 p.m. after we eat and have a time of family worship and devotions. But I am going to give as a priest anointed with God's Spirit myself. The whole of my being, heart, mind, soul, and strength, seven days a week, every hour of every day in everything I do. That's my life as a priest. Myself. A living sacrifice of thanks. And there you see the motivation. It's a sacrifice of thanks. Why would anyone here this morning say what I just said? That the entirety of my life, from the moment I wake up to the moment that I go to bed seven days a week with my family, at work, in school, in my recreation, and at church, all of it, is a sacrifice to God for what He has done for me. That's why we would say that. Because we sit here this morning who know our sin and know the wonder of God's grace and therefore say, I owe my all, my absolute all, out of thanks for Jesus Christ. A priest consecrates the entirety of his life out of thanks to God. Parents are priests. And we can even say that as parents, we function as priests from the point of view of consecrating our children to God and interceding for them on their behalf. Think about Old Testament priests for a moment in this respect. What did they do? And this parallels what we do as parents to our children. Old Testament priests had the responsibility on behalf of the nation of bringing them to God and sacrificing on their behalf. And those priests, on behalf of the nation, interceded for the people before God. That's what we do as parents with respect to our children as priests. And there's a powerful symbol of that in baptism. Baptism is a sign chiefly and a seal chiefly of the washing away of our sins through the blood of Jesus. But there is something to be learned from what we see in the answer to the questions and in the activity of the parents. What did these parents do today? In presenting their children for baptism, presenting the language of baptism and the language of the catechism, what they did was function as priests. Taking these children, presenting them at the baptism font to be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, is by that act saying, these children are not my children. These children washed in the blood of Jesus Christ are God's children. And by this act of bringing them for baptism, I am demonstrating as a parent that I am going to go forth as a parent bringing in all of their life My children to God. Consecrating them to the living God of heaven and earth. There's powerful teaching in baptism for what it means to consecrate our children to God. And then also as parents intercede for their children. Oh, how many prayers are not offered by parents for children on their behalf. Especially when they're young, but not exclusively when they're young and not able to pray themselves. We pray for them and with them as they grow older. and face the world in which we live, and face all of the decisions that they need to make, and all of the temptations that they will face in this world, parents pray for their children and intercede on their behalf. And that's something all of us as parents know very, very well. We need to do that. We need to do that, as I said in our prayer, because we can't work in them powerfully. Only God can. And recognizing it's only God who can work as we desire in the hearts of our children, we lay that before God's throne and seek on their behalf His work in the hearts and lives of our children. In addition to that, as parents, so much of our lives is teaching them what this means that we just read in the Catechism. And here we see why prophet is the main one. Because part of being a prophet is teaching our children what it means to be a priest and what it means to be a king. Teaching is at the core of it all. Teaching by words and teaching by example. And how important is this? Teaching our children that the entirety of our lives as Christians, is a presenting of the whole of my life as a sacrifice of thanks to God. This is why we make clear to our children that when dad goes to work, He's going to work to serve the Lord first in obedience to the Word of God which calls Him to work. This is why we make clear to our children that mom does all of her work in the home, not just because it has to be done, though it has to be done, but she does that in a self-sacrificing manner because that's her giving of self. in obedience to the Word of God. We need to constantly be telling our children, this is why you're going to school. And not just going to school, but you need to be working hard in school. You need to be kind to your classmates. You need to be respectful to your teachers and others who work at the school. Not just because you have to, but this is why. You need to serve God today. Because look at what God has done for you in Jesus Christ. This is why when you go to the fields on Saturday morning, or the courts at night during the basketball season, you talk about how you're going to conduct yourself. We're going to have good language. We're going to have good sportsmanship. If we win or we lose, we're going to put it in perspective. Because in how I do this on Saturday morning at the field, or during the week at the court, I am giving myself in a sacrifice of praise to God. This is why we tell our children every day, no matter the busyness, we're going to find time. to have a special time of worship to God. We're going to read God's Word. We're going to pray together. We're going to sing together. We're going to do that because this is what our life is about. And in order to do it in all of those other areas, we need those special times that puts it all into focus. and says, we give our hearts and lives to God as priests. And yes, this is why we're going to be here every week, twice on the Lord's Day, because this is worship. This is worship that glorifies God. This is where the Gospel is proclaimed. This is where the songs are sung. This is where the prayers are made. This is where the offerings are given. This, believing the truth of God's Word, is where we give ourselves at our core to the God who saved us. As parents, let this phrase, Romans 12, always be in the front of our minds. Priests raising priests. Last, kings. What do kings do? Kings do two things according to the catechism. They fight against sin and Satan and afterwards reign. eternally over all creatures. Kings fight. The Word of God says so much about what it means to be a king, and the battle that we must fight. So much from beginning to end is dedicated to that truth. Ephesians 6 speaks of that at the end of the chapter. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of His might, Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. This is who we fight against, not flesh and blood, but principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness. And now in light of that, wherefore, put on the whole armor of God." and pray. As anointed with the Spirit as kings, we fight. We fight every single day. And as parents, we teach our children to fight. We fight for them. This is a wonderful framework with which to think about parents raising children. We need to fight for them. We need to protect them. Not in a world flight way. We need to protect them. This is why we're going to maintain our Christian schools. This is why we're going to be very careful with our filters and restrictions on our devices and internet. This is why we're going to watch out who our friends are. Because we're going to protect them from all of the influences of the devil. So that as raising them, we can teach them about these enemies. Teach them where they are in this world. How they function. Teach them where we need to go for strength, which is God's Word. And Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit in prayer. Teach them that there is, though we fight every single day, victory in the Lord Jesus Christ. So we fight for them. But we also teach them to be soldiers in the Lord's army. That they need, as Ephesians 6 says, their loins girt up with the truth. They need the truth. They need the breastplate of righteousness which is only through faith in Jesus Christ. They need the Gospel of peace as it's proclaimed week after week in a true church. They need the shield of faith In light of those darts that come from the devil, they need the salvation in Christ and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. That's what we teach our children, as exemplary soldiers ourselves, as parents. And then in the end, In light of everything we said, not just about kings, then we know this is true. Afterwards, we will reign with Him eternally over all creatures. It's with confidence and hope that as parents we go forth, believing our children to be anointed with the Spirit, prophets, priests, and kings. It's with confidence and with hope, according to God's promise, that He will save His children, that He will preserve His children, and that one day, therefore, as kings, we with our children, will reign with Him eternally over all creatures. In light of that, may we be spurred on as parents, in our own lives, as prophets, priests, and kings, raising our Christian children. to be prophets, priests, and kings. Amen. Father in heaven, we thank Thee for Thy Word of truth, and we pray that it might penetrate our hearts deeply this morning, having heard the very voice of Christ in the preaching of the Gospel. We pray that it might Affect us in our lives so that we strive to be faithful in what it means to be prophets, priests, and kings. Forgive our sins too, O God. We know that we sin in so many ways in these areas. Forgive graciously and empower us by Thy Spirit to walk faithfully. In Jesus' name do we pray, Amen.