// Covenant Family Church

Text: 2 Corinthians 7:8-11
Guest Preacher, Pastor Yelton.

Since we sin against God every day, we must repent of our sins. True repentance brings life. However, we must repent in a way that pleases God—not in a worldly way. This is sometimes difficult, because it is easy to confuse true repentance with a false, worldly repentance. So, we must study what the Bible says about repentance. The Holy Scriptures say a great deal about repentance. In the Bible, which is the only rule of faith and practice, we discover what repentance truly is, and we learn how to distinguish it from every counterfeit. We can find a good definition of repentance in the Westminster Shorter Catechism:

Q. 87. What is repentance unto life?
A. Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.

Since true repentance brings salvation from death, we must repent in a godly way, not in a false and worldly way.

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Last week, “Why are their troubled times?” this week, “What do you do during troubled times?” We are not called to fight every battle, but we are called to choose the battles and fight in them for the glory of God. God owns the entire world. Steadfast love. Justice. Pondering in our heart the way that is blamless. Integrity in your heart and in your house. Abstaining from every form of evil; just don’t go there. A king’s resolve. Those who love and obey God should be our closest confidantes. Story of Abraham Kyper. Creating organizations that are a ‘city on a hill’.

Text: Psalm 101

How should the Christian family live during these troubled times? If a current trend toward evil continue unabated within our culture, then what should we do? Throughout the history of Christ’s Church three classic answers to this question have been put forward:

• Complete removal from the world
• Full participation in the world
• Selective engagement with the world

This last answer is known as the Reformed World and Life View. It means that we boldly affirm that God is the sovereign King who rules and reigns over all things. Therefore, Christians should call all individuals, families, and civil magistrates to live under God’s eternal Law. Secondly, Christians should live as an antithesis to the darkness by becoming “children of light” in their worship, ethics, and personal conduct. Thirdly, Christians should create organizations that are like “cities on a hill”–churches, businesses, political parties, media outlets, etc. By living in this way we selectively engage fallen culture and point the way to righteousness during these troubled times.

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In two weeks, on Nov. 1st at midnight, the time will return to standard time. Be sure to set your clocks back one hour–”Spring forward and Fall back”.

Following our fellowship meal on Sunday, October 19th we will hold a Bible Quiz on Micah and the Lord’s Supper Series. Study questions are now available!

The Lord’s Supper is a privilege, not a right. Explanation of the keys of the kingdom. Matthew 18. Goal of Church Discipline–repentance and restoration. Christ did not shun or reject the Gentiles and tax collectors. He reaches out to them, to bring the gospel to bear in their lives, all the while not excusing their sinfulness. Marks of the true church. Jonathan Edwards and the Lord’s Supper.

Text: Matthew 16:19, 18:17-20

What role does the Lord’s Supper play in discipline and judgment? It’s very simple—exclusion from the Lord’s Supper is a tool the Lord gives to his church to encourage godly behavior. The State utilizes the sword to enforce civil law (cf. Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Pet. 2:13-17), and the Family utilizes the rod to enforce parental authority (cf. Prov. 13:24, 22:15, 23:13-14, 29:15, 17). Why then should it surprise us that the Lord has instructed his Church to utilize the keys of the kingdom to enforce proper Christian behavior (cf. Matt. 16:19, 18:17-20)? The Larger Catechism summarizes the point in this way,

Q. 173: May any who profess the faith, and desire to come to the Lord’s Supper, be kept from it?
A.: Such as are found to be ignorant or scandalous, notwithstanding their profession of the faith, and desire to come to the Lord’s Supper, may and ought to be kept from that sacrament, by the power which Christ hath left in His church, until they receive instruction, and manifest their reformation.

The Reformers rightly understood that participation in the Lord’s Supper is a privilege given to Christians within the context of the local church assembly. The church officers—and not just one man—have the solemn responsibility to exercise church discipline. It is within the local church that the Christian is held responsible for his sinful behavior and urged to repent. Moreover, it must be remembered that the goal of church discipline is reconciliation and restoration. Yet, if the unrepentant Christian refuses correction then it is right for the Church to exercise discipline and exclude him from the Lord’s Table.

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For October we have chosen a very familiar hymns, #353, “I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord”. It was written by Dr. Timothy Dwight, the gifted grandson of Jonathan Edwards, during a time of spiritual decline in America. Thankfully, the Lord turned this around by an outpouring of his Spirit in the 2nd Great Awakening!