God's Pattern for Children, Part 1

Change your children to obey as you raise your children, your consistently doing that. There will be times when they fight against it more aggressively than other times it's not going to be 10 years of battle will be 10 years of teaching with here and there are a few surreal and more must be taught to obey, but it can show up in your home as well. For example, thousands of American parents instead of hiring a local tutor to help their kids with her schoolwork outsourced the job to companies outside the US that boast high-caliber, more affordable instructors and the tutoring is done over the Internet. But while long distance education may help your child grow academically. You can't afford to outsource your child's spiritual training God intends for that to happen in the home here today. John MacArthur looks at biblical and quite practical ways. Christian parents can teach godliness to their kids.

He's continuing his series. The fulfilled family and now here's John with a look at God's pattern for children, not easy world for children by any means.

The home is not an easy place in society is not an easy place letter from a teenager came to U.S. News & World Report. Here's the letter.

This is what this young teenager wrote the economy is shot. Family unit is in trouble, respect for authority is a joke for the right price.

You can buy yourself a senator or a judge or he is out buying himself a 16-year-old to use for a couple of hours. Money is worthless and your worthless without it. Stop worrying about why your son needs a drink before he can face his morning classes or why your daughter went out got pregnant just help them cope with the reality of life before throwing us into categories. Just remember that we have to run this joint 30 years when you die off or retire or starve on your Social Security. I leave it up to you either give us a little help in understanding or put the world out of its misery and send up the missiles and hope mother nature has better luck with the next thing that crawls up out of the slime of said that somebody's little baby came to that so soon, but it does reflect something of the fear and something of the distrust and something of the chaos and confusion and disorientation and lostness of a generation of children and young people and old Chinese proverb says one generation plants the trees and another gets the shade we in this generation are still living in a little bit of shade, our grandparents, and perhaps even our parents are for old enough planted some trees in the past and we are still enjoying some of the shade, but this generation is not planting any trees for the next and they're gonna find themselves in a blistering world with nowhere to hide the young person who wrote that letter feels no shade, no place of comfort, no place to hide, no place of security. Just fearsome reality both in the present and the future. Our society realizes where it's going to some degree, realizes the chaos of its children. Certainly the children realize it. They realize that there has to be some provision for hope and security, but at the same time they vociferously reject the Bible. They don't want.

As we been noting its moral impingement on their lifestyle.

They're not willing to submit themselves to the standards that it establishes for their own behavior and so they throw out the only hope for the children. Scripture is very clear by the way on what the Bible has to say revealing the will of God. With regard to the family just reminding you way back in the Pentateuch, for example in Deuteronomy chapter 6 in verses six and seven we read in these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children are part is very simple.

Teach the word of God to your children, teach them the Scripture that's our part Deuteronomy 6, six and seven God's part is given a little earlier in Deuteronomy 520 90 that there were such a heart in them that they would hear me and keep all my commandments always that it might be well for them and their children forever.

I can't give them that kind of heart. You can't give them that kind of heart, but God can and God longs to do that God has to give them a heart for his commandments a heart for his word.

God has to call them to himself and we must teach them that teaching of God's word is part of the process by which they are called to God and once called that teaching becomes a pattern in which they live. God is calling, then for families to teach his word to present his word to their children. Parents are really forced to do that.

That is the only alternative if they desire to raise their children to love the Lord and to know the blessing that comes to those who obey.

That's the crux of the issue facing the family. There's really no hope for the family. Politically, politics cannot bring back righteousness in the home that is a spiritual issue can't be done through politics if it can't be done through education. Educators are working very very hard to try to achieve that, apart from the spiritual dynamic of a transforming revolution in the heart rock by the spirit of God through faith in Christ. They are endeavoring to educate children. Somehow back to some level of morality.

The standard for which they can agree on.

So you have those who are aggressively politically attempting to do that some doing it educationally and neither succeeding now. Our text in Ephesians 5 and six sums up what Scripture says about God's plan for the family. God's plan for the fulfilled family. We have already studied what God designed for the wife, who is called to humbly subject herself in love to her own husband and make him and her children and her home. The center and really circumference of her life. We have also studied the divine pattern for the husband is called to loving headship in which she cares for provides for sacrifices for protects, purifies and loses himself in giving everything for his wife and now we come to the children's responsibility and what must be inculcated in them and it says that they are to obey their parents. Verse one verse two.

They are to honor their parents obedience and honor, obedience and respect is their responsibility. May I begin by affirming the fact that the children are a welcome addition to the family. I need to say that in this day and age, there are a welcome addition to the family in a time when some people are saying they prefer not to have children as if somehow that was a negative in their lives. Psalm 127 and 128 says children are a blessing from the Lord, the Holy Spirit said in first Timothy 514. I will bet younger women marry bear children and care for the home again. Children are a blessing, a heritage from the Lord in bringing God's special gifts to maturity and to godliness and to virtue and usefulness and effectiveness for the kingdom of Christ are two things that we must teach them. We must teach them to obey their parents and we must teach them to honor their parents. That is simple but very comprehensive and largely I think whether they do that effectively depends on us and our commitment to the word of God and to what it affirms. Proverbs 22, six sort of sums it up in very familiar words train up a child in the way he should go and when he is mature he will not depart from it. That is a simple general statement that the way you train a child will show up in his adulthood. That's all it's saying it's not a promise it's not a guild adds guaranteed pledge is simply axiomatic self-evident that the way you train a child is going to affect what they become and that is the general truth of that Scripture. And when you train them in the things of God that will have an impact on what they become. If we follow God's plan. We will see that plan bearing fruit. That just makes common sense. Now admittedly teaching children to obey and honor their parents is not easy and it's not simple listed didn't prove to be so with my children and it's not proving to be so with my grandchildren. Let me tell you why it's difficult for the very same reasons that it's difficult for a wife to submit and it's difficult for a husband to express loving leadership. The very same reasons apply to the difficulty of children obeying and honoring their parents. The same basic reasons. Number one the curse inside them. They are cursed when they arrive, they are little selfish, self-centered, rebellious reprobates, cute cuddly but reprobate that is apparent when they arrive they scream and they don't share anybody else's pain.

They scream only for their own.

They have no sympathy. They share no interest in anything going on in the family. They are not at all attentive to the conversation. They make no effort to assist in anything they just are preoccupied with themselves. They think of no one exist, but them. They're great when they get a little beyond that very infant stage there great at disobedience is built in the stuff you don't spend the early childhood saying to them, yes. Why yes well yes yes yeah you continually say to them. No no no no, because all the been is toward what is counterproductive and disobedient.

They're good at disobedient not to teach them how to disobey nobody ever had to teach a child how to disobey nobody ever had a child that they went to at some point and said now I just want to show you what disobedience is, so you'll know it when somebody else does it.

It kind works like this and you do a little role-play.

No, you don't have to do that they have to be taught to obey. They have disobedience down very well there. Utterly selfish, utterly self consumed. They want their will when ever they wanted they don't want to wait for anything. There utterly impatient. They have no regard for anything that you're concerned about the whole world revolves around them and that is an initial expression of their depravity, which can be simply defined as being self consumed, so they have to be taught to obey through very painful lessons and they they rebel against that, to varying degrees. Don't some children have to have a myriad of spankings in disciplining, while others seem to have a requirement for last. They come with a little bit different personality package, but the training is nonetheless the same and I suppose David summed it up from the very outset when in Psalm 51 five David said, thinking of the time that he was in the womb I was shaped in iniquity in sin did my mother conceive me doesn't mean that he was an adult illegitimate child. He simply means it from the very time of my conception.

I was sinful and there is no training that occurs in the womb, so when the little life verse out that is ready to express it soon. We have that inside curse and that inside curse is apparent as children manifest their early behavior and you know what terrible depravity manifests itself in an undisciplined child, don't you. Secondly, you not only have the curse in them yet. The system outside of them. The world continually keeps the pressure on Romans 12 to says don't be conformed to this world.

Don't let your children be conformed to the world. Consumptive materialism teaches them self-indulgence. That's a terrible thing to learn. In America alone we spend more money on toys than the gross national product of 60+ nations indulging our children. Children are sold a steady diet of self-centeredness 200 hours of of ads per year they see on television 22,000 commercials endeavoring to make them discontented to learn the general discontent of not liking what you have and having the desire for something that you see on television. Society teaches them rebellion against authority. It teaches them that the most important thing in their life is self-esteem and self-fulfillment in getting their own will, in their own way when they wanted and how they wanted.

They watch an average of 30 hours of television per week while they're growing up until graduation from high school. They have seen 20,000 hours of the tube more than any other activity except sleeping there over exposed to everything on television. Children see more sin in a month than their grandparents or their great-grandparents probably saw in their entire lifetime and all of that meeting is pumping out an anti-God lifestyle. Is it any wonder that 10 million children have VD 5000 more contracted every day. Is it any surprise that one in five uses drugs twice a week that over a million. Engage in prostitution before they reach the age of 16, between seven and 14 million children are alcoholics millions need help in psychiatric clinic somewhere around 2 million. According to the children's Bureau of the health education and welfare group merely to build 2 million of them receive help annually from public agencies because of what is classified as psychological or psychiatric problems, and so it goes.

The curse inside the corruption outside. The third area of debilitating destruction aimed at children is that not only which comes from within them and from around them.

But what caught comes upon them. What comes upon them turned to second Timothy three and second Timothy chapter 3 we go back to this, we commented on it earlier we read about the difficulty of the last day. Second Timothy 31 the last days difficult times will come and coming upon the children in our generation is all of the last days uniqueness in terms of corruption when men are lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant providers, disobedient to parents, one of the characteristics of the last days is a defiance toward parents and society tolerates it.

Society teaches them to rebel against authority. It teaches them that it wants to pass out condoms, Andrew and require that no parent have the right to know that so that they cannot push off on that child their own religious convictions, rebellious, undisciplined, selfish, sexually stimulated, angry, bitter, frustrated, destructive children are the products of a society that is disobedient to its parents and that is without natural affection without natural affection. They don't have the normal love of family.

Verse three the first word unloving store goi without natural family love.

We have obviously and abused in an unloved generation of children. Children are seen by many as a burden so that one third of all childbearing age. Couples are permanently sterilized.

Fathers have forsaken their love for children 6 million children in our country more than that now. I think the figure is quite more than that many millions we should say have no father in the home at all. Mothers have gone also in self-indulgent abandonment and the pursuit of their career or whatever it is they want and there are millions of lonesome latchkey children who sit behind their locked doors with the shades pulled over exposed to television recorder million and upwards live in foster homes, residential facilities, institutions, mental hospitals, mental mental hospitals and are otherwise incarcerated in juvenile facilities for criminal behavior or even in prisons.

It is even possible now since 1979 to divorce your parents precedent set by Milwaukee court.

This is the chaos in the lives of children. The philosophy of the last days is anti-family. We all know that we talked about that, the feminist agenda is anti-family, the homosexual lobby is anti-family. The abortion thrust his anti-family one of the authors and lecturers FM standing area on humanist philosophy said to free the child.

We must do away with parenthood. We must settle for nothing less than the total elimination of the family.

One of our US senators wrote me a letter to say that the antifamily forces are bent on fulfilling the following goals. These are the goals you listed abortion for the happiness of the mother and father. If there is one in the home.

They want to fulfill these goals. Abortion government controlled family-planning legalization of homosexual marriage equal rights for children government training for children in minimum wage for children for housework and is really happen. Can it really happen. We face a serious situation. Dr. Michael Novak wrote in Harper's magazine and I quote clearly the family is the critical center of social force is the seedbed of economic skills and attitudes toward work. It is a stronger agency of educational success in the school and a stronger teacher of the religious imagination in the church political and social planning. In a wise social order begins with the axiom.

What strengthens the family strengthen society even when poverty and disorientation strike is over the generations.

They often do, it is family strength that most offends individuals against alienation, lassitude or despair the world around the family is fundamentally unjust. The state and its agents and the economic system and its agencies are never fully to be trusted. One unforgettable law has been learned through all the disasters and injustices of the last thousand years, if things go well with the family life is worth living. When the family falters life falls apart, and Michael Novak is exactly right. From the standpoint of justice somebody observing the family from a human wisdom viewpoint. It's obvious that all is well in the family is healthy and when it's not. There is no hope for a society. The only hope then to shade the generation to come is to submit ourselves to what the word of God teaches about the family and about raising children, and frankly, folks, it's not that difficult to figure it out.

It doesn't take years and years and years. It doesn't take a whole lot of techniques to figure it out. It always amazes me the amazing economy of words with which the Lord says everything and what he says is this teach your children to obey you and to respect you. That's the sum of it all. Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth. By the way, these are the only verses in the Bible that command children. Children should be taught these, they should specifically be taught these things, they should be taught to obey children.

By the way the word children is taught techno.

It's the general word for offspring. It doesn't necessarily identify an infant there's another word for an infant.

It's just talking about children in general. No ages in view from the earth all the way to being young people as long as they are under parental control and parental care soon as they are old enough to know what is right there to be taught to obey their parents that strong self centered depravity has to be harnessed and obedience is the key to that they must be taught to obey the word obey us Cuba Cool Whip crew are cool has to do with hearing group under to get under and listen. Obedience is the issue. Teach your children to obey and really that's the issue and not say something as you raise your children, your consistently doing that. There will be times when they fight against it more aggressively than other times than those of the battle time when you have to consistently force the issue of their obedience and make the consequence severe enough so that they get the message. It's not going to be 10 years of battle will be 10 years of teaching with here and there a few weeks of real warfare as they endeavor to fight to maintain the freedoms of their own evil nature. That's John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary with a look at God's pattern for children it's part of his current series on grace to you titled the fulfilled family wealth. The Bible certainly does get practical when it comes to raising children. But John would you say the steps you're outlining, or fail proof. In other words, if parents follow these biblical principles to a T.

Are they guaranteed to bring up a child who fears God and follows him. While there are no guarantees. I know people like to lean on and bring up a child in the way should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. That is the truism the kids will grow up to be the adults that you train them to be. That's that that's a truism that's our promise of salvation. God saves but I'm convinced that God's saving work predominantly occurs in Christian families and I think statistics prove that if you were to ask the congregation to Grace Church, for example, what percentage of UC will stand up if you were raised in a Christian home and you came to Christ in the home.

It would be the most common place where people come to know the Lord.

So I do believe that if we raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, the Lord honors that faithful passing righteousness and gospel truth on from generation to generation.

I think one another way to say it. It seems to me is that God puts his elect, most often in a Christian family, so that that impact businesses critical in fulfilling his purpose. The guarantees are that if you raise your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord God will bless you because you have been faithful in all you can do is that and pray for the salvation of your children.

I know many people have questions about the family. We have a booklet that we put together called answering the key questions about the family how you can know the right way to bring up your children things about the wife submission to the husband's responsibility in leadership and what you do when he doesn't lead like he should responses to an abusive spouse. These questions all of us face. We will give you some answers from the word of God in the booklet answering the key questions about the family free to anyone who requests a copy.

Just let us know you want one will get it to you. Yes, we will friend all you have to do is call us or go to our website and request answering the key questions about the family will send you a free copy get in touch today.

Our website address TTY.org. The phone number here 800-554-7223 the numbers easy to remember as 855 race answering the key questions about the families. A quick read but it answers foundational questions like how can I keep my marriage strong and what's the proper way to parent again will send this booklet free of charge.

If you just go to our website TTY.org or call us at 855 race the title of the booklet again answering the key questions about the family also know that we would love to hear how John's verse by verse.

Teaching has encouraged you. Maybe today's lesson help you apply biblical truth about the family that you never really understood if God is use these broadcasts in your life.

Let us know when you write to us at grace to you. Box 4000 panorama city, CA 91412 four.

You can send an email to letters@tty.org that's her email inbox letters@tty.org now for John MacArthur. I'm Phil Johnson encouraging you to be here tomorrow when John considers two vital truths that Christian parents need to teach their children join us for another half hour of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on grace to you