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God Versus The World: The Education of Our
Children (Richard Chambers)
Preachers Files Lectureship – Granby – 2008
-Introduction
-John 17 contains a prayer uttered by Jesus in the night of His
betrayal. He had gathered
with the apostles at the time of Passover. He had washed the
apostles’ feet, identified
Judas as His betrayer (who then left their company), instituted the
Lord’s Supper, and
delivered a final discourse containing words of comfort, warning,
promise and instruction.
He then offered His prayer regarding Himself, the 11 apostles that
remained with Him
and all future followers.
-When praying about/for the apostles, Jesus stated, “I have given
them your word,
and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just
as I am not of
the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but
that you keep them
from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of
the world. Sanctify
them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:14-17, ESV – All
scripture references
are from the ESV unless otherwise noted).
-Obviously, from these words of Jesus and from many other passages
within God’s
inspired word, we find a distinction between being a follower of
Christ (and therefore a
child of God) and being “of the world.” Therein lies a battle that
has been raging for
centuries – God versus the world. My friends, we are a part of that
battle as Paul
addressed in Ephesians 6:10-17.
-We need to be actively engaged in the battle rather than distant
onlookers. We need
to set aside apathy and complacency and get in the fight. Our souls
hang the balance
along with the souls of many others. It is a fight worth fighting.
-Like the apostles, we need to be sanctified (separated) from the
ways of the world.
To accomplish that, we must rely upon God’s word. One cannot be
separated from
God’s word and expect to be separated from the world. Again,
consider Jesus’
prayerful words, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
-The Requirement To Teach Children
-When I read and study God’s word, I do not find specific
instructions that require me to
be a “full-time” preacher.
-I, like you, have an individual responsibility to learn, obey,
proclaim and defend the
truth. I believe that we readily acknowledge the existence of this
responsibility but
we fall short in the application of it. We need to teach others
regarding the truth of
God’s word. Those “others” include our own children and
grandchildren.
-When I read and study God’s word, I do find specific
instructions/commandments/
requirements for me – as a parent – to teach my children the truth
of God’s word.
-Eph. 6:1-4 – Not a new concept: Deut. 6:1-7; Prov. 22:6
-1 Chron. 28:9
-Wherever we are from, whenever we live, whatever our background
(ethnic, social,
economic, etc.) we have a God-given responsibility to teach our
children.
-Hopefully, we will certainly give due diligence toward fulfilling
this responsibility –
not just out of necessity but also with loving willingness.
What I Want My Children To Believe/Understand
1. There is a God. We did not come from a molecular accident and
random process. We
did not originate from apes. We are created by God in His own image.
Therefore, we have value and importance in the sight of God who
loves us.
-Gen. 1:1, 26; Luke 15:10
2. We are accountable to God. Perhaps that is why some don’t want to
acknowledge the
existence of the Almighty God of Heaven. With the existence of God,
logic leads us to
the next step of considering what He expects/requires of us.
-2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:12
3. The Bible is the inspired word of God. It is an authoritative
standard of objective truth.
We need to study it, learn it and submit to it. Parents use to be
concerned that their
children would grow up and accept a different form of the truth
(i.e. falsehood – Yet,
that falsehood was presented in the form of truth – It just wasn’t
the proper truth).
Now, we need to be concerned about whether our children will grow up
believing there
is such a thing as truth. If we teach them properly, they will.
-2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Tim. 2:15 (KJV); John 12:48-50, 14:6
4. The Bible reveals a single plan of redemption designed by the
Father and put in place
for the benefit of mankind. That plan eventually led to Jesus
leaving His home in
heaven, taking on the form of man, living a perfect life and serving
as the perfect
sacrifice for our sins. Through His cleansing blood, we can receive
the forgiveness of
sins (which we need) thanks to the grace and mercy of our Heavenly
Father.
-Eph. 1:1-6; Phil. 2:5-8; Acts 13:38
5. The church – established by Jesus and belonging to Him - is the
spiritual kingdom of
God prophesied aforetime in the New Testament. It is singular in its
nature and is
exalted by God and should be exalted by us. It is a privilege to be
a part of it. We
should actively serve within it. It is worth making sacrifices for.
-Matt. 16:16-18; Eph. 1:22-23, 4:4; Heb. 12:28
6. There is objective, doctrinal truth that we must obey and conform
to regarding the plan
of salvation, daily living and worship. Our children could readily
accept the
information listed in numbers 1 through 5 and still abide outside of
a relationship with
God. However, through faithful obedience to doctrinal truth, one
abides in a
relationship with the Heavenly Father thanks to His grace and mercy.
-John 14:6, Rom. 6:17; Heb. 5:9
7. The sanctity and proper design of marriage. Although this would
fit within the
information included under number 6, due to recent and current
events in our country,
I have listed it separately. We need a renewed focus on “till death
do us part” and an
increased emphasis on a proper union being between a man and a
woman. In my
opinion, the breakdown of the proper family unit and family values
in this country lies
at the foundation of many of the other issues we now face and will
continue to face.
-Gen. 2:23-25; Matt. 19:1-9; Heb. 13:4
-If I don’t teach my kids the truth regarding these things, the
world will gladly teach them
something completely different. God versus the world. I want my kids
on God’s side!
-How Am I To Teach My Children
1. Instruction
-When we think of the word “teach,” I think we typically think about
instruction. And,
of course, such is the case with the proper teaching of our
children. I believe we
understand this – we just need to make sure that we apply it on a
regular, consistent
basis.
2. Example – I cannot use a “Do as I say, not as I do” approach. We
need to speak the
truth and live according to it.
-1 Cor. 11:1, 1 Tim. 4:12, Titus 2:7
-Matt. 5:16
-As parents, we need to set an example of putting the church first
in our lives – being an
active participant in its work, making necessary sacrifices for it.
-In a recent study by Flavil R. Yeakley Jr., Ph.D. (Good News and
Bad News: A
Realistic Assessment of Church of Christ in the United States 2008,
Searcy, AR, ©
2008), when addressing the retention and dropout rates of youth in
the church,
brother Yeakley observed: “The most important factor was the average
level of
involvement by parents in the congregation. If, in the typical
church family, both
parents were active and involved members (that is, they attended
services regularly
and had some specific area of ministry responsibility), around 80
percent of the
children in these congregations stayed in Churches of Christ. If, in
the typical
church family, one parent was active and involved in the
congregation and the
other parent was not, the retention rate was around 50 percent. If,
in the average
congregation, neither parent was active or involved, the retention
rate for that
congregation was between 20 and 30 percent” (pgs 17-18).
-Let’s be active participants in the Lord’s church.
3. Discipline
-This is an area in which we can certainly find different messages
between the world
and God’s word.
-God’s word makes it very clear that children need proper discipline
and that parents
have the responsibility to properly administer it.
-Prov 29:15-17 (Prov. 13:24, 19:18, 23:13-14)
-God makes it very clear that His children need the discipline that
He administers.
-Heb. 12:5-7
-By properly disciplining my children, I’m helping them to learn.
I’m establishing
the concept of right and wrong, the concept of accountability and
respect for authority.
I’m demonstrating to them the fact that I love them.
-So much more could be said regarding this very, very important
topic of “God versus the
World: The Education of Our Children.” I hope that something that I
have said will prove
to be helpful to you. May we all give our best to/for our children
in putting forth a sincere,
diligent effort to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of
the Lord.
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