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March 8, 2021 3:00 am
The book of Proverbs gives clear instruction for how we are to teach our children but putting that instruction into practice at home can be a real challenge today on Truth for Life.
Alastair beg explains what we need to know in order to wisely love our children and I invite you to take your Bibles and turn with me to Proverbs in chapter 22 read from verse one. A good name is more desirable than great riches to be esteemed is better than silver or gold rich and poor have this in common. The Lord is the maker of them all. A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge at the simple keep going and suffer for it. Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life in the paths of the wicked live thorns and snares, but he who guards his soul stays far from them train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it. Verse 12 the eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge, but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful. The sluggers says there's a lion outside or I will be murdered in the street. The mouth of an adulterous is a deep pit.
He who is under the large Roth will fall into it, falling is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him. He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the writ both come to poverty.
Father we pray that with our Bibles open before us that you will be our teacher that you will perform the mysterious work of making your voice to be truly haired, when your word is faithfully taught. Granted, our preoccupation may be with your word and the one to whom we are introduced in your word for his namesake gasket. Amen we've noted in the book of Proverbs is Kidner says coasters in the street rather than ushers us into a church building. It calls out to us about the everyday matters of life. It scratches as in the areas of home life and tells us that here is godliness. If you like in working clothes, and so as we look together at these principles with considered friendship and laziness, jealousy, words, sex, and this morning the raising of children.
The raising of children. People often ask me and are you going to address the matters of the family or when you going to do a series on this or that.
My answer is always the same when we come to it in the Bible. When we arrived at the subject will tackle it and sometimes will start with the subject and look for scriptural references, but most of the time not, there are a number of factors are some of you will know along with me, that are noticeable with advancing years and first of all, we feel older. There's no question of that we look older. There's no doubt about that but also we sound older and I think the latter is the worst of all, realizing that we've started to trot out the same old clichés that we use to curl up our noses at when we inherited coming from our own father's, if our children and our grandchildren then are to be spared from listening to a succession of homespun yarns was just get more far-fetched with the telling. If we are to prevent them from simply being the recipient of horribly dreadful clichés that it is important that we pass on to them wisdom. Wisdom is simply information but wisdom here in Proverbs. We've been discovering that the crux question as he lays out the issues of life is essentially this is is a wise thing or foolish thing is is a wise choice or a foolish choice is is the wise rotor of the stupid row and most of the time he is addressing folly not in terms of intellectual impoverishment, but rather in terms of moral perversity or of spiritual perversion. Are you going to go God's way.
Are you planning on going your own way. The urges upon his son upon his daughters is aware through his son. Picking this individual to be the recipient of it. The importance of understanding that the fear of the Lord as he says in chapter 9 is the beginning of wisdom and that knowledge of the holy one is understanding.
We recognize that we need wisdom. If we are to live our lives in a way that is honoring to God and which of us would deny the need for wisdom in the matter of raising children. Surely there can be no greater privilege, and no larger challenge in all of life than being entrusted with the custody of these little bundles that hold so much potential both for good and federal you to guide child into your arms and you look at it and it has the potential to help immensely in the course of life. It has within it the potential to harm dreadfully in the unfolding of his or her journey and as we stand on the brink of the 21st-century and look at our Bibles and look at our culture, there can be little doubt that one of the ways in which the Christian worldview impinges on an increasingly confused and dispirited culture is in the realm of child rearing and child training and nurturing. Is it simply that I'm getting old or is there an increasing absence of civility and respect amongst children as we move among them. Does everyone feel this way. I just me coming out like my grandfather is that what it is, or is it possible to assume that when you greet a child they flat-out ignore you gazing at you straight in the eye that when you say good afternoon to them. They may choose to pass you by. You may move among university students and find that they pay you the scanned list of intentions. You may address them in the public arena and find him over laden with their baseball hats as they sit in the context of worship with a complete disregard for anything that is going on the fight that he would not sit like that if they were at an interview with IBM or if they were attending a hearing of the Supreme Court doesn't seem to make any difference to them at all. After all, it's their hat. Their hair it's their dance, their life, what's it to you old guy and is it just me or our young moms now completely tyrannized by these children in the grocery carts witness the inability of parents to say no to their children or to say stop to their children. Have you flown on a plane recently with a toddler behind you all know I will know if we go swimming together. I will know because you will mark a bruise on your back from having been kicked for 4 1/2 hours by the little food that just goes like this thing thing thing thing and you hear the person behind explaining in pseudo-philosophical terms about the benefits of keeping your knees in the downward position rather than the awkward position and you want to just turn around, grab the father by the throat and say your are the words start total confusion and endless discussions. There was no surprise to me that people talk to the children like this because I noticed they talk to their animals like this the same dumb talk that they do to dogs now roll over. That's very nice way to treat the people in the neighborhood. Is it we expect the dog to say in response to that now. Why do they speak that way to dogs because of their view of theology because of their view of the world. They may not understand it, but they believe themselves and as humanity to simply be a turbocharged monkey with as much right to be on the planet as their dog. Therefore, it would definitely be wrong for them to roll up a newspaper and hit the dog on the snouts because after all rollover is his own little person has, of course, is this fiendish little creature in the grocery cart so they going to have a little discussion here, and another little discussion over here die magazine August 6 had a front-page cover on page cover had a covered do kids of too much power to kids of too much power.
That's the question they were asking. The article was fascinating.
I can read it to you all, but it describes the attempt of how one family managing their four-year-old Lucian and their 17 month old Elliott begins by pointing out that this couple who live in the suburbs of Chicago.
They know that no book can tell them exactly the best way to raise their kids so there's a lot of stuff out there, but there's no book they can tell you what to do so, they engage in rearing our little Lucian and little Elliot and the little lawyer Lucian tries to cajole his mom and dad to accompany him outside to play.
Mom said I said no, that should be the final answer.
Dad said I said yes so we got a problem and little Lucian the lawyer is presently negotiating with his parents. Bathtime of course leads to more negotiations. Never enthusiastic about getting into the top.
Lucian can usually be talked into it.
You see Jerry always half an hour of our lives explaining to Lucian.
Benefits of washing yourself, says Natalie is mom we plan for him to take a bath every night, but sometimes it's not worth the fight. He was so dirty that night. We just didn't want to. Given well, good for little Lucy and tussling tussling over the telephone, one of a picture here. We've seen it 100 times over the mother with the phone you got a clutching 17 month old mother. Handled quiet and talking to grandma okay the pictures as this accompany and unable to Chouinard Elliott screaming mom surrenders he shouldn't have the power to prevent me from talking to my mother. This phase just started and I'm afraid I'll never get to talk on the phone again, who's in charge here 17 month old Elliott is now in charge of telephone calls in and out of the home. I'll spare you the.
The dressing sequence but ends with the, no harm no way trying to broaden the picky eaters pallet is usually futile as his dad. I know you like cities had it before but I'm disappointed when he doesn't expand his food horizons come along out Lucian time to expand your food horizons my just getting older what's happening here. I mean, was my mother nuts when she said it that or I'll says the mother.
I'm not really sure he needs to eat that cancer-causing protein nighty night that time. The last hurdle of the day is also the most exhausting. I'm hoping for some time to relax before I pass out, but I let them get away with one more stalling tactic.
He has to look at one more thing and I don't say no. There you have it coming out of the contemporary literature of our day. Now this is no surprise to anyone. But here's the thing.
The Christian knows that there is a book that has the answer. The Christian is a worldview that starts from a totally different premise.
Let me tell you something. In my experience of young Christian couples were not exactly blazing a trail of such qualitative parenting that folks are asking if they can come over to our homes to learn from. As the principles squared by in resisting confusion and in submitting to the clarity of this book we have found that the maker's instructions really really were some years ago and I can only recall the scene in my mind I can call the movie. It was Cher that was in it and never thought much of her as an actress, but she was good in this movie should play the part of a mother she was a kind of a hip mother who want to be hip with our teenagers and the teenagers were driving her nuts in one classic scene.
There is a royal argument that ensues and they are going hammer and tongs at one another and eventually both of them dissolve into tears and shares the mother grabs this teenage girl in her arms and looking across her shoulder into the camera. She says how do I know what to do with you. You didn't come with instructions and proverb says yes you did came with instructions notifying us instructions exist is not necessarily synonymous with the fight of the instructions are being understood and the fact that they are understood, is not necessarily correlative with a 500 million apply in the challenge.
I suggest to you is a real one. When introducing the subject. This morning I want to see just a number of things. I hope that it doesn't appear completely disjointed elder son enough structure to it to make sense.
First of all it is. Notice that wisdom begins at home that wisdom begins at home.
If you looking for to begin any other place were looking in the wrong place. Listen, my son verse eight of chapter 1. Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching, so the father is to bring instruction. The mother is to be a teacher. Who are they to teach there to teach their pupils who are their pupils are children in what context. Deuteronomy 6 tells us we read it routinely when we're sharing the dedication of little ones there to do it when they walk along the road, when they lie down when they get up when they see the events of a starlit sky and able to speak concerning the creator when they're confronted by difficulty and by paying that able to speak concerning how God enters into our suffering and how God has made himself known to us, not on a deck chair but on across when their tiny lives are buffeted by the pain of the absence of friendship that able to speak to them concerning the fact that it is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. And when the frightened to go to sleep at night that able to speak to them concerning the fight that God knows their tiny lives and is a strong tower to them and will protect them in the same way that they may put all kinds of pillows around themselves and they may put all kinds of teddy bears all around them and the mother says with absolute authority on the Scriptures in a far more precious way than your bear is snuggled up to you. The Lord Jesus looks after you and the watches of the night pagan parents can say no such thing. They have nothing to say.
And since wisdom begins in the home. We need to realize that children come with a stamp on them become a number of stamps on number one is certainly this year's for a limited time only yours for a limited time only the window of opportunity is is very small. All I know in those early days when you first get them. It seems like forever when old people like me meet you in the mall and say all well enjoy the weather. Young because it goes pass very very quickly your straggling through the mall like this you would let you give them away to a stranger. If you could just get five minutes please you send them to their grandmother for seven months.
We did get them out of the house and some well meetings as well do enjoy them while they're young is like water. You know you are forgotten, you have well it happens quickly. No longer can sue and I say yes we have teenage children, we don't how quickly it went by where we where as we went to bed that all of our best influences past or the relationship continues their interaction is sweet and meaningful with each of the children, but the fact is that we really done. We've done what we could. We did what we thought we tried our best, the same as you have done is parents the same as you must do.
We cast ourselves on the grace of God and since wisdom begins at home, and since we have them only for a little time you can begin your work too late. You can never begin your work too soon you start too late in the project began start too soon in the project and by nature. We love our children dearly, but we need the Scriptures to learn how to love them wisely, and the only way that we can love them wisely is by right understanding of what we've been given here in this trial, the verse, which is before us is sort of launching pad for our study is train a child in the way he should go on the way she should go a child. What we have here we have a child we know what that is.
Don't wait all in measure. We do have told you before that when our son was born. We took him for a period of a few months to fairly well respected pediatrician in the west of Scotland who examined him for a kind of postnatal checkup deal and we would arrive soon would have them all wrapped up beautifully put together and then will hand them to the nurse. The nurse would take off all his stuff reduced him to his birthday suit and when she had them down to the basics. Then along we come.
Dr. Whitey was a big man he used to pick him up like he was picking up a pound and 1/2 of sausages is pick pick this child up and he would he would poke and prod and go EE in the way you learn how to do that in medical school. Apparently, certain he knew and then with a flourish pass the little pond have a sausages back into the custody of the nurse and say to the amazement of Sue and I she looks fine to me, which did not encourage your eyes in terms of his of his abilities. I.e., this guy has missed the point completely in either pediatrician so and raising our children, it is important when we asked the question what do we have here, what are we dealing with that.
We answer that question on the basis of the faithful consideration of that with which were present.
We are given a child and this loving God who is stem. This child in his image also recognizes that this child's image of God is marred by the imprint of sin and when we think in terms of children. Our minds are flavored by a lot of sentimental nonsense that flushes through the literature and airwaves of our time and our minds are influenced also by an emotional instinct which obviously clearly wants to believe the best about our children.
But what the Bible actually says when we dig this bundle in our hands and ask the question what do I have here a child and what is our child. The Bible says that the intentions of the heart of a man are evil. From there you from their inception. Genesis 821. The Bible helps us understand what's true about all of us about her children even when that's hard to swallow from part one of today's message titled, teach your children will on Truth for Life with Alister believe instruction in our current series wise words that can immediately be applied in everyday life and the book were recommending a book called living will also draws from God's wisdom found in the book of Proverbs by taking us deeper into all of the guidance that this portion of Scripture contains, you can request your copy of the book living well today when you donate to support the Bible teaching you hear on this program you can give through our mobile app or@truthforlife.org or you can call 888-588-7884. Now with spring just around the corner. Maybe you started thinking about summer vacation plans. If so, why would you consider vacationing with Alister on a seven day cruise to Alaska will be the guest speaker on a Holland America ship the departs from Seattle August 28. It stops in Juneau in Sitka and in Ketchikan. It will also provide close-up views of the Hubbard glacier. The Tongass National Forest in the mountains along the end, Alister will be opening the Bible each day, and teaching us from God's word find out more. Reserve your tickets by going online to deeper faith cruise.com or by calling 855565551 Bob Lapine thanks for listening tomorrow. Alister talks about the importance of the right kind of discipline as we teach our children will hope you can join us for series wise Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life learning is prolific